Definition:
A fallacy in which a rhetor seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for the famous.
Examples and Observations:
- "Not every appeal to authority commits this fallacy, but every appeal to an authority with respect to matters outside his special province commits the fallacy. 'These pills must be safe and effective for reducing. They have been endorsed by Miss X, star of stage, screen, and television.'"
(W.L. Reese, Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion. Humanities Press, 1980) - "We make an appeal to authority whenever we try to justify an idea by citing some source of expertise as a reason for holding that idea. Appeals to authority are often valid, as when we tell someone to use a certain medicine because the doctor has prescribed it. But appeals to authority can be fallacious, as when we cite those who have no special competence regarding the matter at hand. The fallacy of appeal to authority, therefore, is an argument that attempts to overawe an opponent into accepting a conclusion by playing on his or her reluctance to challenge famous people, time honored customs, or widely held beliefs. The fallacy appeals, at base, to our feelings of modesty, to our sense that others know better than we do."
(S. Morris Engel, With Good Reason: An Introduction to Informal Fallacies, 3rd ed. St. Martin's Press, 1986) - "Another common fallacy is the appeal to authority, which consists of arguing a point by invoking the opinion of an expert. However, experts may be wrong, they may be expressing an opinion outside their area of expertise or they may have been incapacitated or joking when making the point. It is the expert's reasons that are valuable, not the fact that they were announced by an expert."
(Daniel Sokol, "The Right Way to Argue." BBC Magazine, December 20, 2006)
Also Known As: ipse dixit, ad verecundiam
