A politician asserts: 'Over seventy percent of citizens believe in astrology, so astrology must be an empirically verified science.' What fallacy is present?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. appeal to popularity
- Step 1: The speaker equates the widespread popularity of a belief with objective empirical scientific truth. Arguing that a claim is scientifically valid simply because a large number of people believe it is an appeal to popularity (argumentum ad populum). Answer: appeal to popularity. Why not the others: "slippery slope consequence" posits a chain reaction of negative events without establishing causal necessity; "appeal to false pity" attempts to persuade by eliciting sympathy rather than presenting evidence; "post hoc causal error" infers that event A caused event B merely because A preceded B in time.
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