# Ad lapidem

*Also called: Appeal to the stone*

- **Cluster:** Attacks on the source — Judging the speaker instead of the argument
- **Page:** https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/ad-lapidem/
- **In Arabic:** https://fallacy.wiki/ar/fallacy/ad-lapidem.md
- **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## What it is

Declaring a claim absurd without giving any reason why.

## In the wild

> That is ridiculous, next question.

## How to answer it

Ask directly which premise is false and why.

## Origin and naming

From the Latin 'argumentum ad lapidem', 'argument to the stone'. The name commemorates Samuel Johnson's famous retort to George Berkeley's immaterialism: as Boswell records it, Johnson kicked a large stone and announced, 'I refute it thus.' Logicians took the kicking as the emblem of a dismissal that performs instead of argues.

## More places it shows up

- During the standup, the lead engineer glances at the prototype and says, 'This is nonsense,' then moves to the next agenda item without explaining what breaks.
- A panelist on a news show hears the guest's housing proposal, laughs, and says, 'Nobody serious believes that,' and the host moves on.
- At the family dinner, an uncle waves off his niece's career plan as 'childish' and asks someone to pass the bread.
- In a group chat, someone replies to a linked study with a single laughing emoji, and the thread treats the matter as settled.

## How to spot it

- Notice when 'ridiculous' arrives as a full stop rather than the start of an explanation.
- Notice when a groan, a laugh, or an emoji is asked to carry the entire weight of a refutation.
- Notice when you are left unable to say which part of the claim was rejected, because no part was named.

## Nearby

- [Argument from incredulity](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/incredulity.md)
- [Ad hominem](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/ad-hominem.md)
- [Fallacy fallacy](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/fallacy-fallacy.md)

## Read more

- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_the_stone)
- [Logically Fallacious](https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/10/Appeal_to_the_Stone)

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From fallacy.wiki — a bilingual field guide to 91 logical fallacies, published by phi holdings. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse freely with attribution to fallacy.wiki.