{"id":12607,"date":"2022-06-30T17:41:39","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T17:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialpanic.org\/?p=12607"},"modified":"2023-03-30T03:21:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T03:21:39","slug":"the-appeal-to-authority-argument-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2022\/06\/30\/the-appeal-to-authority-argument-form\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Appeal to Authority” Argument Form"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have discussed the “Appeal to Authority” argument form previously. Rather than address substantive issues, the proponent of an “appeal to authority” short circuits the argument by asserting something is true because “an authority” said it is true.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bertrand Russell noted an argument rests solely on facts and logic. “Authorities” are not always right – in fact, some are frequently wrong. But the “appeal to authority” approach works for many – who accept it without questioning or even understanding the facts or logic of the issue at hand. Because it is an effective – but deeply flawed – form of argument, it is commonly used – and its very simple to apply. Just quote an “authority”.<\/p>\n

Below, Jerome Adams, a former US Surgeon General asserted the “appeal to authority” argument. He was also provably wrong.<\/p>\n

“Kelley K” is a Georgia mom who discovered significant errors in a pre-print (not yet peer reviewed) study that the CDC used, in part, to justify approval of a Covid-19 vaccine for children under age 5. She brought the error to the attention of the paper author, who agreed with her finding and revised the pre-print paper.<\/p>\n

Dr. Adams, however, argued from a position of Authority that he was right, and she was wrong! Even though the data and the study author 100% agreed with her assertion. In other words, his opinion supersedes facts!<\/p>\n

This is a classic example of “experts” who refuse to acknowledge when they are wrong – and argue “I’m smarter than you so shut up peon” when neither facts nor logic support their assertion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Adams later deleted his reply – because neither facts nor logic supported his position. But worse is the damage done to “experts” who are seen as relying on the “I’m smarter than you” appeal to authority argument, even when they are wrong. This has been termed “the suicide of expertise”.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, many of us no longer give a pass to experts, having found throughout the pandemic that many experts have been significantly wrong. Worse, their dismissive attitude towards others, as above, leads to loss of trust and a loss of credibility in them and their fields. This loss of trust extends beyond the individuals to a loss of trust in their field of study and to a loss of trust in science itself, and scientists in other fields.<\/p>\n

Remember – a sound argument is based on facts and logic.<\/p>\n

The “appeal to authority” approach is one of the weakest forms of argument – but it is frequently used because of its simplicity and because so many people fall for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A former US Surgeon General asserts the “appeal to authority” argument form – where neither facts nor logic supported his position. Instead, he came across as arrogant and dismissive of those lacking the qualifications to question his errant comments – even though he was wrong. This attitude has become common during the Covid era and has led to “the suicide of expertise” – that is, the loss of trust in experts and even Science itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appeal-to-authority"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}