Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy Examples in Media, Real Life, Politics, News & Ads

Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy

What is Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy?

The Appeal to Ignorance fallacy is a type of informal fallacy where someone asserts a claim as true. It has not been proven false or because there is a lack of evidence or information that would disprove the claim.

It is a logical fallacy that occurs when someone makes an argument based on the assumption that their opponent knows less about a subject than they do, without any evidence to back up this assertion.

Ignorance fallacies are often used in debates or arguments where one party has more power and authority over another party who may not know the subject at hand or access to resources needed for research purposes.

This can lead to unfair conclusions being drawn from the discussion, which could be biased and/or inaccurate due to a lack of information or facts available on either side of the debate.

When a person makes a claim without providing any evidence, then this is known as an Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy. There are many examples of when this fallacy will be committed.

An example of Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy is when a person commits the fallacy when they state that something is true simply because it has not been proven false.

Another example of Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy is when someone claims that a person has committed a specific crime without providing evidence.

Studying the Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy People will often use this fallacy in an attempt to steer the discussion towards something they find more appealing. This is a common ploy during debates which causes other people to become frustrated and annoyed.

The appeal to ignorance fallacy is a formal fallacy that has been around for centuries. It is also often referred to as the “I don’t know, but I know that I don’t know, so you must be wrong” fallacy.

Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy Examples

Ignorance fallacy is the logical fallacy of arguing that a conclusion is false because it cannot be known to be true. This type of argument typically takes one of the following forms:

“I don’t know how this could have happened, so it must not have.”

or

“I don’t know why this would happen, so it can’t.”

The ignorance fallacy is often used in conjunction with other fallacies such as hasty generalization and post hoc ergo propter hoc to form an argument that may seem plausible but does not logically follow its premises. 

Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy Examples in Philosophy

Examples of Ignorance Fallacy Fallacy in Philosophy:

An example of an ignorance fallacy in literature would be if a teacher were telling their class about how many people died during World War II. But only counted those who died fighting for America’s allies while ignoring all other countries involved in the war, such as Germany and Japan – even though it was clear that these two countries also suffered significant losses during WWII.

Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy Real Life Examples

Examples of Ignorance Fallacy Fallacy in Real Life:

Ever been told something is great because “it’s popular”?

It’s the Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy, and it’s everywhere. Appeal to Ignorance is a fallacy in which the speaker mistakenly assumes that it is automatically false if a fact is popular.

It’s one of the most common fallacies in existence because it usually leads to a false conclusion.

Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy Examples in Media

Examples of Ignorance Fallacy Fallacy in Media:

The ignorance fallacy is a logical error in which media assumes that because they don’t know about something, it doesn’t exist; Examples:

• “Climate change is a hoax.”
• “The Holocaust never happened.”
• “There’s no such thing as sexism.”

Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy Examples in Advertising

Examples of Ignorance Fallacy Fallacy in Advertising:

• The ad states that the product is “the best” without any evidence to back up this claim.
• The ad uses a celebrity endorsement to make it seem like an expert endorses the product.
• The ad uses emotional language to persuade viewers into buying the product

Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy Examples in Politics

Examples of Ignorance Fallacy Fallacy in Politics:

The ignorance fallacy is a logical fallacy that occurs when a politician asserts their conclusion without supporting evidence. This can be done intentionally or unintentionally, but either way, it is not a sound argumentative strategy because the person does not provide any information to back up what they are saying.

An example of this would be a politician asserting, “We must win the coming election” without providing any reasoning for why they must win.

Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy in News

Examples of Ignorance Fallacy in News:

This fallacy often occurs when an article is trying to make an argument for their own position or belief, and they assume that the lack of evidence against them means there is no evidence at all

For example, if you believe climate change isn’t real, then you would be committing this fallacy by assuming that other people who disagree with you must not have any good reasons for doing so.