Editing Argumentum ad captandum

{{Short description|Specious argument: "captivate the masses"}}
{{Italic title}}
In [[rhetoric]], an '''''argumentum ad captandum''''', "for capturing" the [[gullibility]] of the [[naïve]] among the listeners or readers, is an unsound, specious argument designed to appeal to the emotions rather than to the mind. It is used to describe "claptrap or meretricious attempts to catch popular favor or applause."<ref>{{cite book|last=Whitney|first=William Dwight|title=The Century dictionary and cyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U_FOAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22ad+captandum%22&pg=PA67|volume=I|year=1906|publisher=The Century Co.|location=New York|page=67}}</ref> 

The longer form of the term is '''''ad captandum vulgus''''' ([[Latin]], "to ensnare the vulgar" or "to captivate the masses");<ref>{{cite book|title=Ancient and Modern Familiar Quotations from the Greek, Latin, and Modern Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09kqAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22ad+captandum%22&pg=PA14|year=1892|publisher=J. B. Lippincott Company|location=Philadelphia|page=14}}</ref> the shorter and longer versions of the phrase are synonymous. The word "vulgus" in Latin meant the common people, the multitude; it was also sometimes used contemptuously to imply a rabble or a mob.<ref name = "Tad">{{cite book|last=Tuleja|first=Tad|title=Foreignisms|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFP3725cE2cC&dq=%22ad+captandum%22&pg=PT16|year=1989|publisher=The Stonesong Press, Inc.|isbn=978-0983794943}}</ref> 

The ''ad captandum'' approach is commonly seen in political speech, advertising, and popular entertainment.<ref name = "Tad" /> The classic example of something ''ad captandum vulgus'' was the "[[bread and circuses]]" by which the Roman emperors maintained the support of the people of Rome.<ref name = "Tad" /> 

== See also ==
* [[Appeal to emotion]]
* ''[[Argumentum ad populum]]''
* ''[[Captatio benevolentiae]]''
* [[For the children (politics)]]
* [[Glittering generality]]
* [[If-by-whiskey]]
* [[Loaded language]]
* [[No true Scotsman]]

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Rhetorical techniques]]
[[Category:Latin logical phrases]]
[[Category:Latin words and phrases]]
[[Category:Informal fallacies]]
[[Category:Appeals to emotion]]


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