Monday, February 25, 2008

LFotW: Argument from Authority

The logical fallacy of this week is Argument from Authority. The basic structure of such arguments is as follows: Professor X believes A, Professor X speaks from authority, therefore A is true. Often this argument is implied by emphasizing the many years of experience, or the formal degrees held by the individual making a specific claim. The converse of this argument is sometimes used, that someone does not possess authority, and therefore their claims must be false. (This may also be considered an ad-hominen logical fallacy.)

In practice this can be a complex logical fallacy to deal with. It is legitimate to consider the training and experience of an individual when examining their assessment of a particular claim. Also, a consensus of scientific opinion does carry some legitimate authority. But it is still possible for highly educated individuals, and a broad consensus to be wrong – speaking from authority does not make a claim true.

This logical fallacy crops up in more subtle ways also. For example, UFO proponents have argued that UFO sightings by airline pilots should be considered valid because pilots are trained observers, are reliable characters, and are trained not to panic in emergencies. In essence, they are arguing that we should trust the pilot’s authority as an eye witness.

The argument from authority, or appeal to authority, has many potential subtypes, all of which invest authority in a particular group or situation. In the broadest sense this logical fallacy assumes that because a person or group possesses some positive quality (such as authority), their claims are true. Below are some examples of different types of positive qualities worth specific mention.

Subtype: Appeal to Common Belief
This fallacy is the argument that a claim must be true because many people believe it. It ignores the possibility, demonstrated frequently throughout history, that the majority can be completely wrong. The popularity of an idea or claim is often based upon features other than logic or evidence.

Subtype: Appeal to impending acceptance
I consider this to be a subtype to the argument from authority, because it attempts to invoke the authority of future belief and acceptance. Many peudosciences, such as creationism, ESP, and UFOlogy, claim that broad acceptance is right around the corner. This is a logical fallacy (the argument from authority) coupled with an assumed premise (that of future acceptance).

Subtype: Appeal to virtue or sincerity
This is the argument that a person or group possesses a virtue and therefore their claims must be true. For example, alternative medicine proponents often cite that a particular practitioner is very sincere and caring, and therefore claims for the efficacy of their treatment should be believed. Also, a credulous ghosthunter argued to me that an eyewitness who claimed to have seen someone levitate three feet off their bed should be believe because “why would she lie.”

Subtype: Argument from Conspiracy or anti-authority
This is the converse of the argument from authority, and basically states that a claim is false because it is held and promoted by an authority. This occurs often in the context that the official government position must be false because it’s the official government position. This is more properly considered a subtype of ad-hominem logical fallacy, arguing that the government must be wrong because they habitually lie or engage in cover-up conspiracies.

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