Is this an appeal to positive consequences?
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Original Question
appeal to consequences I was just wondering whether the following verse from the Qur'an would be considered an appeal to positive consequences fallacy?
Surah 2:21 - "O mankind! worship your Lord, the One Who created you and those from before you, so that you may become righteous"
I am unsure as it doesn't seem to be making an argument and other translations have the phrase 'mindful of god' instead of righteous.
Comments on Question
Answers
2It is, and you better believe it or god won't like you.
No. There is no truth claim being made here. It is take action X so you get get benefit Y. The appeal to consequences fallacy in this case would have to go something like this:
"O mankind! worship your believe in the Lord, the One Who created you and those from before you, so that you may become righteous"
The implication here is that you must accept the proposition that God exists so that you can become righteous.
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This verse is making a promise that if you do X then Y will be the result. The Arabic word in question تَتَّقُونَ which translates "that you may become righteous" and derives from the word تَقْوَى -- taqwah -- or the fear and reverence of God. This word, as well as its derivatives, appears numerous times in the Quran. Note that it is very difficult to translate some of these terms into English as they lose their meaning in translation. This is so because the Arabic language is very precise and sensitive.
An appeal to consequences, also known as argumentum ad consequentiam (Latin for "argument to the consequence"), is an argument that concludes a hypothesis (typically a belief) to be either true or false based on whether the premise leads to desirable or undesirable consequences.
I don't think that every appeal to consequences constitutes a logical fallacy. For example, you say to your child, "don't touch the burner or you will get burnt." Or you tell someone, "don't speed or you will get a ticket." Both examples are appeals to consequences based on a belief that a certain outcome will take place if a particular action is taken.
This is the same with the verse in question. It is saying if one does this, then a certain outcome will take place.