Appeal to Tradition: Old School or the New Way?

Duchess wants to go to the party too.

Rules? There are no rules for Duchess.

See how Duchess breaks tradition with our our Appeal to Tradition Activity Pack!

Appeal to Tradition in a Nutshell

The Appeal to Tradition fallacy is when "we've always done it this way" is treated as a reason. It isn't. It's just a description of how long something has been around.

Duchess showed up to the Dogs Party. No cats allowed - always been the rule, always will be the rule, end of conversation. Duchess asked one very reasonable question: why? The bouncer had an answer ready. It's always been done this way. We can't go changing the rules now. 

No reason. No logic. Just history doing the heavy lifting.

The age of a rule tells you nothing about whether it's a good one. Plenty of terrible ideas are very, very old. "We've always done it this way" means exactly one thing: that nobody has been brave enough to ask why. Yet.

Duchess asked. Then she came back in a dog mask. Rules respected. Justice served.

See all 24 fallacies in What Are the Most Common Logical Fallacies?

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