# Appeal to consequences

*Also called: Argumentum ad consequentiam*

- **Cluster:** Emotional pressure — Feeling recruited to do the work of evidence
- **Page:** https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/consequences/
- **In Arabic:** https://fallacy.wiki/ar/fallacy/consequences.md
- **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## What it is

Judging a claim true or false by whether its implications are pleasant.

## In the wild

> If that theory were true it would be terrible, so it is false.

## How to answer it

Distinguish what is true from what would be convenient. Reality does not consult us.

## Origin and naming

From the Latin 'argumentum ad consequentiam', 'argument to the consequence'. Logicians flagged the move of judging a claim's truth by the pleasantness of its implications, since reality is under no obligation to flatter our preferences.

## More places it shows up

- If burnout is really caused by workload, we'd have to redesign the whole team structure — so it must be a resilience problem.
- The diagnosis can't be hereditary; that would mean my kids are at risk, and I refuse to believe that.
- If rental prices track supply and demand, our favorite housing policy is useless, so the economics must be wrong.
- Admitting the campaign failed means the minister resigns tomorrow, therefore the campaign succeeded.

## How to spot it

- Notice when the argument answers 'do I want this to be true?' instead of 'is it true?'
- Notice when the price of a belief being true is treated as evidence against the belief.
- Notice when 'that can't be right' really means 'that would be inconvenient.'

## Nearby

- [Wishful thinking](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/wishful-thinking.md)
- [Moralistic fallacy](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/moralistic.md)
- [Nirvana fallacy](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/nirvana.md)
- [Sunk cost fallacy](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/sunk-cost.md)

## Read more

- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_consequences)
- [The Fallacy Files](https://www.fallacyfiles.org/adconseq.html)

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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.