Argumentum ad Verecundiam

From StoneHome

Definition

Also known as Appeal to the Public, or less commonly as Misuse of Authority, Irrelevant Authority, Inappropriate Authority or Questionable Authority, this is often a difficult call to make. This fallacy comes of appeal to the beliefs of someone based on something other than their authority on the subject. Frequently this is applied to famous or powerful individuals based on a vapid observation of their success; less frequently and often more difficult to reject without a bitter argument this can be applied when someone is an authority on a similar subject which doesn't apply, often because of the original speaker's inattention to detail or ignorance of the topic, occasionally due to a form of hero worship. Argumentum ad Verecundiam is the basis for a significant amount of marketing-driven research. This fallacy's difficulty to apply is compounded when experts in a field disagree, when an expert's standing is disputable, or when subtle issues of implementation are differently seen by arguing parties; this fallacy is therefore intensely subject to issues of germanity.

This is a complex and difficult fallacy, often evasive and hard to prove and subject to intense disagreements especially as regards subject validity, actual topical authority and bias, especially when multiple "experts" on the topic disagree with one another. Nizkor's coverage of this topic is excellent.

Examples

He's Doing Well

Observer 

College is obviously a waste of money and time. Why, many of the richest men on earth, including Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Larry Ellison, all in the top ten, are college dropouts.

Koop Sez

Zealot 

I was reading a business magazine, and they said Linus Torvalds (operating system and cpu expert) supports such-and-such a business model. He's a genius; I'm going to restructure my business tonight.

Related Fallacies

This fallacy often accompanies Argumentum ad Hominem, Straw Man or Argumentum ad Populum, and is not infrequently supported by Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc.