Argument from authority

Overview

An argument from authority is any argument based solely on the credibility of a particular entity (the authority).

The presumption of credibility may proceed from any of several other presumptions, including:

• The authority is the definitive source for knowledge on this subject, so any statement s/he makes on this subject is true by definition or is the official truth
• The authority knows more than you do, so any counter-arguments you might propose are based on ignorance
• The authority is infallible and incapable of error

value

While the argument from authority proves nothing, it can be valid under certain circumstances:

• If disagreeing parties can agree on the validity of a particular authority's opinion
• If disagreeing parties can agree that their level of knowledge or expertise is inadequate to properly evaluate a situation
• If disagreeing parties can agree that the effort necessary to reach an objective factually-based conclusion would be prohibitively costly in time, energy, or other resources (see [1] for some discussion).

Synonyms

• ipse dixit (Latin: he himself said it)
• argumentum ad verecundiam (Latin: argument to respect)

Related Pages

• Argument from authority is a type of black box argument.

Examples

• "Carl Sagan says there can't be life elsewhere in the universe, so that proves it."
• "God says homosexuality is a sin, so it must be."
• "Albert Einstein said 'God does not play dice with the universe.', so quantum physics must be wrong."

Reference

• Wikipedia
• The Nizkor Project

Notes

As a rhetorical tool, this argument often succeeds in shifting the debate from its original topic to a discussion of the merits of the cited authority, which can easily slide into ad hominem attacks ("you said so-and-so is wrong, well that just proves you're wrong!").