8. Logical Fallacies: Faulty Appeal to Authority

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9. Logical Fallacies: The Strawman

00:05

Faulty appeal to authority. The faulty appeal to authority is, in a way, the opposite of the ad hominem fallacy.

00:13

Whereas the ad hominem fallacy denies a claim based on the person making it, well, they're not smart enough or whatever to make the claim, the faulty appeal to authority endorses a claim simply based on the person making it and their degree or whatever characteristic it is that they have.

00:33

Essentially, the faulty appeal to authority is the argument that a claim is true simply because someone else believes it.

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So the basic structure of the argument is this. Bill believes this, therefore X is true. That happens in a lot of churches that have a cult following, right?

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You'll have a strong leader who teaches them something and you'll ask the person, well, why do you believe this?

00:57

Well, Pastor so -and -so believes it. As if that means it's right, right?

01:03

That's not making an argument. That's a faulty appeal to authority. Just because someone who's smart or in authority believes something doesn't necessarily mean that the argument is true, right?

01:17

We need to recognize that. You need to spot that when you're going back and forth with somebody, even if it's on the street, right?

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Whether it's in a public setting, on the street, wherever it is, even at the dinner table, you know, talking with family.

01:31

Well, so -and -so believes this. It's like, so what? So of course it's almost never stated this explicitly.

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Often the person to whom the appeal is made is considered highly esteemed for one reason or another, but the truthfulness of the claim at issue is not necessarily relevant to the popularity of the individual making the claim.

01:52

And you've seen stuff like this before. More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette, right?

01:57

This is an actual ad, right? So what they're saying is, well, but the doctor smokes it.

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So if he smokes it and he's in the know, I mean, he's a doctor, then it should be okay to smoke that cigarette, right?

02:12

So again, this is a faulty appeal to authority. They're trying to get, and this happens a lot in sales.

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I mean, most of the marketing and the sales material you read have some kind of logical fallacy baked in there.

02:26

Begging the question, faulty appeal to authority. You know, four out of five dentists say, you know, have this particular gum.

02:34

Another faulty appeal to authority is, if creation is true, then why do the vast majority of scientists believe in evolution?

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So just because it's a majority means that your argument is valid. That's, that's not always true.

02:49

And again, when, when, when you're arguing with somebody and they're going back and forth with you and they throw these things out, you have to be, you have to be quick enough to listen to what they say, recognize that that's a fallacy.

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And it really has a lot of weight. If you know the name of the fallacy and you can say it back to them, that's a faulty appeal to authority fallacy or the fallacy of faulty appeal to authority.