phrase
Latin
Ipso Facto
lit. “by the fact itself”
'By the very fact' — used to point out that one thing automatically entails another, with no further argument needed.
Origin
A medieval legal Latin construction, common in scholastic philosophy and canon law. The classic example: excommunication latae sententiae was ipso facto — the moment you did the act, you were excommunicated, no church trial required.
Modern usage
Used in argument to claim a self-evident consequence — sometimes legitimately, sometimes to skip over a step that actually needs defending. 'He took the bribe, ipso facto he's compromised.' The English 'by definition' and 'automatically' do much of the same work.
Tags
logic
consequence
argument