Appeal to Authority Argument

An Appeal to Authority Argument is a reasoned argument whose evidence includes an expert judgement (by an expert).

• AKA: Argument from Authority.
• Context:
  • It can (typically) follow an Argument from Authority Fallacy.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • an Ad populum Argument.
  • an Ad hominem Argument.
• See: Common Sense Argument, Challenge Authority.

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References

2013

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_authority
  • Argument from authority (argumentum ad auctoritatem), also authoritative argument, appeal to authority, and false authority, is an inductive reasoning argument that often takes the form of a statistical syllogism. Although certain classes of argument from authority can constitute strong inductive arguments, the appeal to authority is often applied fallaciously.

    Fallacious examples of using the appeal include:

    • cases where the authority is not a subject-matter expert *cases where there is no consensus among experts in the subject matter
    • any appeal to authority used in the context of deductive reasoning.
  • In the context of deductive arguments, the appeal to authority is a logical fallacy, though it can be properly used in the context of inductive reasoning. It is deductively fallacious because, while sound deductive arguments are necessarily true, authorities are not necessarily correct about judgments related to their field of expertise. Though reliable authorities are correct in judgments related to their area of expertise more often than laypersons, they can still come to the wrong judgments through error, bias or dishonesty. Thus, the appeal to authority is at best a probabilistic rather than an absolute argument for establishing facts.

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