Argument from authority

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An argument from authority, also called an appeal to authority, or the argumentum ad verecundiam[note 1], is a form of defeasible[4] argument in which a claimed authority's support is used as evidence for an argument's conclusion. It is well known as a fallacy, though it is used in a cogent form when all sides of a discussion agree on the reliability of the authority in the given context.[5][6]

History[edit]

Historically, opinion on the appeal to authority has been divided - it has been held to be a valid argument about as often as it has been considered an outright fallacy.[7]

In the Medieval period, the argument from authority was considered by many the weakest form of argument[8] such as in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. In his Summa Theologica, he wrote, citing Boethius as well, that "to argue from authority … is the weakest kind of proof."[9] [10]

John Locke, in his 1690 Essay Concerning Human Understanding, was the first to identify argumentum ad verecundiam as a specific category of argument.[11] Although he did not call this type of argument a fallacy, he did note that it can be misused by taking advantage of the "respect" and "submission" of the reader or listener to persuade them to accept the conclusion.[12] Over time, logic textbooks started to adopt and change Locke's original terminology to refer more specifically to fallacious uses of the argument from authority.[13] By the mid-twentieth century, it was common for logic textbooks to refer to the "Fallacy of appealing to authority," even while noting that "this method of argument is not always strictly fallacious."[14]

In the Western rationalistic tradition[15] and in early modern philosophy, appealing to authority was generally considered a logical fallacy.[16]

More recently, logic textbooks have shifted to a less blanket approach to these arguments, now often referring to the fallacy as the "Argument from Unqualified Authority"[17] or the "Argument from Unreliable Authority".[18]

Forms[edit]

Appeal to non-authorities[edit]

Fallacious arguments from authority are frequently the result of citing a non-authority as an authority.[19] An example of the fallacy of appealing to an authority in an unrelated field would be citing Albert Einstein as an authority for a determination on religion when his primary expertise was in physics.[19] The body of attributed authorities might not even welcome their citation, such as with the "More Doctors Smoke Camels" ad campaign.[20]

It is also a fallacious ad hominem argument to argue that a person presenting statements lacks authority and thus their arguments do not need to be considered.[21] As appeals to a perceived lack of authority, these types of argument are fallacious for much the same reasons as an appeal to authority.

Other related fallacious arguments assume that a person without status or authority is inherently reliable. For instance, the appeal to poverty is the fallacy of thinking that someone is more likely to be correct because they are poor.[22] When an argument holds that a conclusion is likely to be true precisely because the one who holds or is presenting it lacks authority, it is a fallacious appeal to the common man.[23]

Appeals to authorities[edit]

Historically, opinion on the appeal to authority has been divided as it is listed as a valid argument as often as a fallacious argument in various sources,[24] with some holding that it is a strong argument[25][26][27] which "has a legitimate force",[28] and others that it is weak or an outright fallacy.[29][30][31][32] These hold that, as noted in the Medical Press and Circular, on a conflict of facts, "mere appeal to authority alone had better be avoided".[33]

If all parties agrees on the reliability of an authority in the given context it forms a valid inductive argument.[5][6]

Use in science[edit]

Scientific knowledge is best established and taught by evidence and experiment rather than through authority[34][35][36] as authority has no place in science.[35][37][38] Carl Sagan wrote of arguments from authority:

One of the great commandments of science is, "Mistrust arguments from authority." ... Too many such arguments have proved too painfully wrong. Authorities must prove their contentions like everybody else.[39]

An example of the use of the appeal to authority in science can be seen in 1923, when leading American zoologist Theophilus Painter declared, based on poor data and conflicting observations he had made,[40][41] that humans had 24 pairs of chromosomes. From the 1920s to the 1950s, this continued to be held based on Painter's authority,[42][43][41] despite subsequent counts totaling the correct number of 23.[40][44] Even textbooks[40] with photos showing 23 pairs incorrectly declared the number to be 24[44] based on the authority of the then-consensus of 24 pairs.[45]

This seemingly established number created confirmation bias among researchers, and "most cytologists, expecting to detect Painter's number, virtually always did so".[45] Painter's "influence was so great that many scientists preferred to believe his count over the actual evidence",[44] to the point that "textbooks from the time carried photographs showing twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, and yet the caption would say there were twenty-four".[44] Scientists who obtained the accurate number modified[46] or discarded[47] their data to agree with Painter's count.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ As popularized by John Locke. "Argumentum ad verecundiam" is translated fromc Latin as argument to modesty or respect.[1][2] "Verecundiam" directly translates as "shame".[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Worcester, Joseph Emerson (1910). Worcester's academic dictionary: a new etymological dictionary of the English language. Lippincott. p. 661. Retrieved 16 April 2017. 
  2. ^ Walton, Douglas (1 November 2010). Appeal to Expert Opinion: Arguments from Authority. Penn State Press. p. 32. ISBN 0-271-04194-3. Retrieved 16 April 2017. 
  3. ^ Verecundiam. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
  4. ^ 1942-, Walton, Douglas (Douglas Neil), (2008-01-01). Informal logic : a pragmatic approach. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521713801. OCLC 783439050. 
  5. ^ a b Lewiński, Marcin (2008). "Comments on 'Black box arguments'". Argumentation. 
  6. ^ a b Emermen, Frans (2010). Strategic Maneuvering in Argumentative Discourse: Extending the Pragma-dialectical Theory of Argumentation. p. 203. 
  7. ^ Underwood, R.H. (1994). "Logic and the Common law Trial". American Journal of Trial Advocacy: 166. 
  8. ^ Kuchel, Philip; Sahade, Michael (2007). "What Might Aquinas Have Said? The outcome of an experiment involving an electrical generator and a capacitor". 
  9. ^ "Nature and Grace: Selections from the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas". CCEL Calvin College. Retrieved 26 July 2017. 
  10. ^ Copleston, Frederick (1991). Aquinas: An Introduction to the Life and Work of the Great Medieval Thinker. p. 22. 
  11. ^ Hamblin, C. L. (1970). Fallacies. London: Methuen Publishing. p. 171. ISBN 0416145701. 
  12. ^ Walton, Douglas (1997). Appeal to Expert Opinion. Penn State University Press. p. 53. ISBN 0271016957. 
  13. ^ Walton, Douglas (1997). Appeal to Expert Opinion. Penn State University Press. pp. 54–55. ISBN 0271016957. 
  14. ^ Coleman, Edwin (1995). "There is no Fallacy of Arguing from Authority". Informal Logic. 17 (3): 366–7. Retrieved 12 January 2016. 
  15. ^ Williams, Jeffrey (2013). PC Wars: Politics and Theory in the Academy. Psychology Press. p. 55. 
  16. ^ Habjan, Jernej. "The Bestseller as the Black Box of Distant Reading: The Case of Sherlock Holmes" (PDF). Primerjalna knjizevnost: 103. 
  17. ^ Hurley, Patrick (2012). A Concise Introduction to Logic (12th ed.). Cengage Learning. pp. 138–9. ISBN 1285196546. 
  18. ^ Layman, Charles (1999). The Power of Logic. Mayfield Publishing Company. p. 178. ISBN 0767406397. 
  19. ^ a b Carroll, Robert. "Appeal to Authority". The Skeptic's Dictionary. 
  20. ^ https://csts.ua.edu/files/2016/09/1983-When-More-Doctors-Smoked-Camels-Cigarette-advertising-in-the-Journal-NYSJM.pdf
  21. ^ Williamson, Owen. "Master List of Logical Fallacies". The University of Texas at El Paso. 
  22. ^ Ruggiero, Tim. "Logical Fallacies". 
  23. ^ Bennett, B. "Appeal to the Common Man". Logically Fallacious. 
  24. ^ Underwood, R.H. (1994). "Logic and the Common law Trial". American Journal of Trial Advocacy: 166. 
  25. ^ [1]
  26. ^ Salmon, Merrilee Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking (2012) Cengage Learning
  27. ^ Bedau, Mark (2009). The ethics of protocells. Boston, Massachusetts; London, England: Mit Press. p. 341. ISBN 978-0-262-01262-1. 
  28. ^ Goodwin, Jean; McKerrow, Raymie (2011). "Accounting for the force of the appeal to authority.". OSSA Conference Archive. 
  29. ^ Carroll, Robert. "Appeal to Authority". The Skeptic's Dictionary. 
  30. ^ Woodward, Ian. "Ignorance is Contagious" (PDF). University of Tasmania. 
  31. ^ Sadler, Troy (2006). "Promoting Discourse and Argumentation in Science Teacher Education". Journal of Science Teacher Education. 17: 323–346. doi:10.1007/s10972-006-9025-4. 
  32. ^ Knight, Sue; Collins, Carol (2005). "The Cultivation of Reason Giving". International Journal of the Humanities. 
  33. ^ "The Rival Theories of Cholera". Medical Press and Circular. 90: 28. 1885. 
  34. ^ McBride, Michael. "Retrospective Scientific Evaluation". Yale University. 
  35. ^ a b Zinser, Otto (1984). Basic Principles of Experimental Psychology. p. 37. 
  36. ^ Stephen, Leslie. The Science of Ethics. p. viii. 
  37. ^ Stevenson, I. (1990). Some of My Journeys in Medicine (PDF). The University of Southwestern Louisiana. p. 18. 
  38. ^ Quick, James Campbell; Little, Laura M.; Cooper, Cary L.; Gibbs, Philip C.; Nelson, Debra (2010). "Organizational Behavior" (PDF). International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology: 278. 
  39. ^ Sagan, Carl (July 6, 2011). The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Ballantine Books. ISBN 9780307801043. 
  40. ^ a b c Glass, Bentley (1990). Theophilus Shickel Painter (PDF). Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences. pp. 316–317. 
  41. ^ a b Mertens, Thomas (October 1979). "The Role of Factual Knowledge in Biology Teaching". The American Biology Teacher. 41. doi:10.2307/4446671. 
  42. ^ O'Connor, Clare (2008), Human Chromosome Number, Nature, retrieved April 24, 2014 
  43. ^ Gartler, Stanley (2006). "The Chromosome Number in Humans: A Brief History". Nature Reviews Genetics. 7: 656. 
  44. ^ a b c d Orrell, David PhD. (2008). The Future of Everything: The Science of Prediction. pp. 184–185. 
  45. ^ a b Kevles, Daniel J. (1985). "Human Chromosomes--Down's Disorder and the Binder's Mistakes" (PDF). Engineering and Science: 9. 
  46. ^ T. C., Hsu (1979). "Out of the Dark Ages: Human and Mammalian Cytogenetics: An Historical Perspective" (PDF). Cell. 
  47. ^ Unger, Lawrence; Blystone, Robert (1996). "Paradigm Lost: The Human Chromosome Story" (PDF). Bioscene. 

External links[edit]

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