English

Noun

argumentum ad populum ‎(plural argumenta ad populum)

1. (rhetoric) A fallacious argument that concludes a proposition to be true because many or all people believe it; it alleges that “if many believe so, it is so”.
   • 2001, Martin Reisigl and Ruth Wodak, Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitism, page 166

     The appeals to the public were also expressed differently: that is to say, much less by fallacious argumenta ad populum that played on the fears of the addressees, than by an appeal to rational insights, humanity and democracy.

Translations

Synonyms

• (“if many believe so, it is so”): argumentum ad numerum, bandwagon fallacy