Appeal to Ignorance Justus, John, Nick

Appeal to ignorance- An argument for or against something on the basis of a lack of information.

Universal Example “I do not have much information on this except the general statement of the agency that there is nothing in the files to disprove his Communist connections.” -Joseph McCarthy Joe McCarthy bases his argument on the lack of information within the statement of the agency. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB_CBb6zhaA

Examples From The Crucible Type of Fallacy: Appeal to Ignorance Mrs. Putnam: “… I have laid seven babies baptized in the Earth and now this year my Ruth, my only… Send her to your Tituba.” She believes her children to be murdered because the appears to be no evidence they were not.

More Examples From The Crucible Type of Fallacy: Appeal to Ignorance Mary Warren: “… I turned her away empty, she mumbled… My guts would burst for two days after.” There is no evidence to show that Goody Osburn did not cast a curse on Mary Warren, therefore she did because she heard her mumble and Mary later felt sick.

One More Example From The Crucible Type of Fallacy: Appeal to Ignorance John Proctor: “There might also be a dragon with five legs in my house, but no one has ever seen it.” He appears to be stating that no one has ever seen it so it must be there. Poking fun of the ridiculous accusations against Mrs. Proctor for having the poppet in her house.

Sources www.fallacyfiles.org Anthony Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments: Third Edition, Pg. 74, 2000.