Steelman
Appeal to tradition
Also called argumentum ad antiquitatem, appeal to common practice, traditional wisdom, “We’ve always done it this way”.
Claiming something is right because it’s always been done that way.
What it is
Arguing that a belief or practice is correct, or should continue, simply because it is old, customary or long established.
The pattern
X has been done or believed for a long time. Therefore X is right.
An example
“We’ve always hired from the same three universities. Why change what works?”
“Always” doesn’t show it works better than the alternatives. Nobody has compared them.
Why it fails
Age alone doesn’t make something correct: long-standing practices have included bloodletting and denying women the vote. Circumstances and knowledge change. A practice’s history tells you it survived, not that it’s the best option now.
When it’s not a fallacy
Most lists skip this part. Calling a fair point a fallacy is a mistake too.
It can be fair when
- Tradition is used as weak evidence that a practice has worked tolerably well, as a prompt to find out why it exists before scrapping it. That is the idea behind “Chesterton’s fence”.
- The question is about the tradition itself, such as what a ceremony customarily involves.
Try one
A question from the app. The wrong answers are its usual look-alikes.
Town council livestream. Resident: “Two Muslim families told me they’ve stopped coming to meetings because every one opens with a Christian prayer. This is their town too.” Councilman Briggs: “That prayer opened this council through two world wars and the flood of ‘38. It’s held this town together for over a century, and it’ll keep doing that long after you and I are gone. Now, item one: the new crosswalk on Elm.”
What’s the flaw?
The resident pointed to families staying away right now. Briggs answers with how long the prayer has lasted and what it meant in the past, which doesn’t show it brings the town together today.
A fair reply
“Maybe it did once. Right now it’s keeping two families home, so how is it holding us together?”
Often confused with
- Appeal to novelty
They are mirror images: tradition says “older is better”, novelty says “newer is better”.
- Appeal to popularity
Popularity counts believers now. Tradition counts years.
Where the name comes from
Ad antiquitatem is Latin for “to antiquity”: the older, the better. Tradition comes from the Latin for “handing over”: what one generation passes to the next. The fallacy assumes whatever got handed down must be right. Appeal to common practice and traditional wisdom lean on custom, and “we’ve always done it this way” is the slogan itself.
Sources
- Fallacies, Bradley Dowden, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- List of fallacies, Wikipedia
In the app
Practice spotting it on arguments that sound real.
Steelman has more examples of appeal to tradition, how to answer it in a real conversation, and practice rounds that mix it with its look-alikes, so you learn the difference, not just the name. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.
You’re on the list.
We’ll email you the day Steelman is out.
Thanks for offering to test. We’ll write before the beta with how to join.