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Appeal to tradition (also known as ''argumentum ad antiquitatem'' or ''argumentum ad antiquitam'', appeal to antiquity, or appeal to common practice) is a claim in which a thesis is deemed correct on the basis of correlation with past or present
tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
. The appeal takes the form of "this is right because we've always done it this way", and is considered by some to be a logical fallacy. The opposite of an appeal to tradition is an
appeal to novelty The appeal to novelty (also called appeal to modernity or ''argumentum ad novitatem'') is a fallacy in which one prematurely claims that an idea or proposal is correct or superior, ''exclusively'' because it is new and modern. In a controversy be ...
, in which one claims that an idea is superior just because it is new. An appeal to tradition essentially makes two assumptions that may not be ''necessarily'' true: * The old way of
thinking In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, an ...
was proven correct when introduced, i.e. since the old way of thinking was prevalent, it was necessarily correct. :In reality, this may be false—the tradition might be entirely based on incorrect grounds. * The past justifications for the tradition are still valid. :In reality, the circumstances may have changed; this assumption may also therefore have become untrue.


See also

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Appeal to novelty The appeal to novelty (also called appeal to modernity or ''argumentum ad novitatem'') is a fallacy in which one prematurely claims that an idea or proposal is correct or superior, ''exclusively'' because it is new and modern. In a controversy be ...
*
Argument from authority An argument from authority (''argumentum ab auctoritate''), also called an appeal to authority, or argumentum ad verecundiam, is a form of argument in which the opinion of an authority on a topic is used as evidence to support an argument. Some con ...
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Argument to moderation Argument to moderation ( la, argumentum ad temperantiam)—also known as false compromise, argument from middle ground, and the golden mean fallacy
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Common sense ''Common Sense'' is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political arg ...
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Conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
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Herd mentality Herd mentality, mob mentality or pack mentality describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. When individuals are affected by mob mentality, they may make dif ...
* Inductive reasoning *
List of logical fallacies A fallacy is reasoning that is logically invalid, or that undermines the logical validity of an argument. All forms of human communication can contain fallacies. Because of their variety, fallacies are challenging to classify. They can be class ...
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Precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...
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Social inertia In psychology and sociology, social inertia is the resistance to change or the endurance of stable relationships in societies or social groups. Social inertia is the opposite of social change. Overview The idea of social inertia can be traced bac ...


Notes

Tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
Conservatism Genetic fallacies Fallacies Tradition {{logic-stub