An appeal to force is a type of informal fallacy that arises when the arguer, instead of showing the evidence, appeals to intimidation or use force to gain acceptance of his or her argument. In other words, the appeal to force fallacy happens when the arguer tries to persuade the other (or the listener) by pointing out his or her power over the other or warning the other of the bad consequences if he or she refuses to accept his or her argument.
Let us consider the examples below.
Example 1
College Dean to a teacher: You better think twice before giving that student a failing grade. Remember, he is the nephew of the university president.
Example 2
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, if you do not bring in a verdict of guilty, you may be the killer’s next victim.
Example 3
Mr. Ambassador, I’m sure you will agree that your coming does not have a legitimate claim to the disputed territory along our borders. After all, we have divisions of troops ready to protect our interest at all times.
Example 4
Father to a daughter: You should study Nursing; otherwise, I will not send you to college.
Example 5
Smith, we cannot have this statement on expenditures coming to the attention of the president. You have been the accountant here for nearly twenty years. It would be a shame to ruin all that now. I think it would be wise of you to take another look at the book, don’t you?
Now, if we analyze the examples above, we can notice that the arguer poses a threat to the listener, saying, in effect: “Accept my conclusion or you will be sorry.”
As we can obviously see, the fact that the arguer intimidates or poses a threat to the listener does not make her conclusion true.