Appeal to Authority

Appeal to Authority

argumentum ad verecundiam (also known as: argument from authority, appeal to false authority, argument from false authority, ipse dixit, testimonials [form of])

Definition: Treating someone’s authority as support for a claim outside their expertise. The problem is the mismatch between the person’s competence and the claim being made.

Logical Form:

• Person A is an authority on subject S.
• Person A makes claim C about subject T, which is not S.
• Therefore, claim C is true.

Example #1: 5th grade teacher: "I have been teaching 5th graders for 30 years, so I know why girls go crazy for boys."

Explanation: Even if the teacher were an authority on education or child development, her belief about romantic motivations is speculative, not a matter of established expertise. Her experience does not make her an authority on the psychology of attraction.

Example #2: The Pope may believe what he says, and perhaps the Pope is not a liar, but the Pope is not an authority on the fact that the bread and wine is actually transformed into Jesus’ body and blood. After all, how much flesh and blood does this guy Jesus actually have to give?

Explanation: Distinguish a statement about what the Church teaches from an argument intended to establish that teaching for someone who does not accept its authority. Citing the Pope may identify Catholic doctrine; it does not, by itself, establish the doctrine’s truth for every audience. The joke about quantities of flesh and blood does not refute the doctrine either.

Example #3: Unable to defend his argument that the Earth is flat, Paul said that his friend Oliver was a qualified botanist who also believed the Earth to be flat, and had even seen it from up in a tree.

Explanation: Oliver’s expertise in botany gives him no special insight into the shape of the Earth. Simply having a degree in a scientific field does not make one an authority on all scientific matters, especially when the claim contradicts well-established physics and astronomy.

Exception: Relevant expertise can provide a reasonable basis for accepting a claim. It remains evidence to evaluate: consider the expert’s competence, the basis of the judgment, and what other qualified experts say. Even a witness’s claim to direct knowledge raises questions about the testimony’s reliability.

Tip: Ask what the cited person knows about this particular claim and how they know it.

Variation: Testimonials are statements from “authorities” in the sense that they claim to know about what they are testifying to. In business, vendor-provided testimonials should not be taken too seriously, as they can easily be exceptions to the norm or entirely fabricated — as in, “John G. from Ohio says...”