Appeal to nature

Informal fallacies → Relevance / appeals

Appeal to nature is when you say something is good or right because it's "natural," or bad because it's "unnatural." Natural and good aren't the same—plenty of natural things are harmful (poison, disease), and plenty of useful things are human-made (medicine, safety standards). The fallacy is to treat naturalness as a reason. What matters is evidence about safety, effectiveness, and ethics, not whether something is natural or not.

Examples

  • This cream is better because it's all natural.

  • We should eat only what's natural.

  • It's unnatural, so it's wrong.

  • The natural way is always best.

  • We shouldn't interfere with nature.

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