Appeals To Ignorance Examples In Speeches And Arguments

In rhetoric, an appeal to ignorance occurs when a speaker attempts to persuade their audience by appealing to their lack of knowledge on a given topic. This fallacy is often used in political speeches to show their claim is true and make their argument seem more persuasive. 

Five Appeal To Ignorance Examples

Here are five examples of the appeal to ignorance fallacy in political speeches:

 “You can’t prove that I did it.”

This statement is an example of the appeal to ignorance fallacy because the speaker assumes that their audience doesn’t have enough information to prove that they committed the act. 

“You can’t prove that climate change isn’t real.” 

This statement is an example of the appeal to ignorance fallacy because the speaker assumes that their audience doesn’t have enough information to disprove their claim that climate change is real. 

“I’m not a racist; I have black friends.” 

This statement is an example of the appeal to ignorance fallacy because the speaker assumes that their audience doesn’t have enough information to prove that they are a racist. 

“You can’t prove that God doesn’t exist.” 

This statement is an example of the appeal to ignorance fallacy because the speaker assumes that their audience doesn’t have enough information to disprove their claim that God exists. 

“No one can prove that extraterrestrial life doesn’t exist.” 

This statement is an example of the appeal to ignorance fallacy because the speaker assumes that their audience doesn’t have enough information to disprove their claim that extraterrestrial life exists. 

Different Forms Of Appeal To Ignorance And Their Examples 

The Appeal to Ignorance, also known as argumentum ad ignorantiam or argument from ignorance, was coined by John Locke in the late 17th century. It is a logical fallacy in which someone argues that a proposition must be true because it has not been proven false or vice versa. 

This fallacy is sometimes called the “burden of proof” fallacy. People use it for shifting the burden of proof onto the person arguing against the claim rather than on the person making it. 

True Until Proven False

In the first form, someone argues that a proposition is true because it has not been proven false.

For example, imagine someone trying to sell you a new product. They might say, “This product has not been proven harmful, so you should buy it.” 

In this instance, a person is asking you to buy their product because there is evidence of absence that it is harmful. Of course, the lack of evidence is not sufficient to prove that the product is safe; there could simply be no evidence because no one has yet done the necessary research. 

Here are some more examples: 

• “There’s no proof that ghosts don’t exist! That means they must exist!” 
• “I don’t see any reason I shouldn’t try this new diet; after all, there’s no proof that it’s dangerous.” 
• “No one knows what happens after we die; maybe reincarnation exists!” 
• “Bill Gates hasn’t said anything publicly about VPNs lately, so they must still work against his new update.” 

False Until Proven True

The second form of Appeal to Ignorance occurs when someone argues that a proposition is false because it has not been proven true. 

For example, imagine someone is trying to convince you that ghosts do not exist. They might say, “There is no scientific proof that ghosts exist, so you should not believe in them.” 

In this instance, the person is asking you to disbelieve in ghosts because there is no evidence for their existence. Of course, just because there is no evidence for something does not mean it does not exist; there could be no evidence because no one has yet looked for it. 

Here are some more examples: 

• “There’s no way extraterrestrial life exists! No one’s ever found any aliens!” 
• “I’m going to stick with my current shampoo; after all, there’s no proof that this new one will work any better.”
• “You can’t prove Santa Claus doesn’t exist…so he must exist!”

In short, the Fallacy of Appeal to Ignorance occurs when someone uses the lack of evidence to justify their claim—whether they are saying something exists or doesn’t exist. This fallacious argument relies on an unfounded assumption and can often be used to prey on people’s fears and biases. 

As such, it is important to detect this fallacy and think critically about whether or not an argument relies upon an Appeal to Ignorance.