Argumentum ad populum is a logical fallacy in which one appeals to majority opinion or emotion during argument in order to support his/her claim(s).
Argumentum ad populum is Latin for "appeal to the populace." The fallacy occurs when one substitutes an admission of relevant evidence with a fallacious appeal to popular, or common, sense. By relying on popular opinion, one hopes to gain support for his/her argument. It is only opinion, though, that one is using to persuade his/her listener. An example of the fallacy can be seen in the following scenario:
Most people believe the Earth to be a sphere, therefore the Earth is clearly a sphere.
It is important to note that, despite the truth of the conclusion, the argument itself is invalid due to its reliance upon a fallacious premise. In this instance, the premise is that of "most people believe the Earth to be a sphere...." Due to this fact, the argument is invalid.
A factual example of the argumentum ad populum fallacy can be traced back to before the age of European exploration. At that point in time, everyone believed that the earth was flat. There was obviously no evidence supporting this belief, but the belief prevailed for hundreds of years due to arguments supported by popular opinion.
The basic form of the argumentum ad populum fallacy is thus:
The majority of people believe Z is true, therefore Z must be true.
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