Bad appeals to the authority occur when a person believes the claims of another individual, because that individual is supposedly an authority or expert on the subject of the claim. This is a fallacy though, and sometimes the individual making the claim may not even have the proper credentials to make a statement of that nature for people to follow.
An excellent example of this is a public figure, specifically the police. They are known for upholding the law, and for making sure that citizens follow the laws that are made by our legislatures. I personally know a few police officers, some of which I am friends with or am simply acquainted with. They have commented that although they are well trained and are here to serve the public and help enforce laws, they are not lawyers. There will be certain laws that may be more complicated than others. Therefore, there have been known cases where individuals have been arrested due to a gray area of a certain law. This is why the United States has the judicial system it has today – for those times of wrongful arrest, so those that are wrongfully accused have their chance in court.
I thought bad appeals to the authority was a very interesting concept. I think people believing police officers is a perfect example of bad appeals to authority. It is not rare for a police officer to make a mistake. Some of the laws are definitely very complex and sometimes it can be difficult to determine if there is an infraction of the law. I have heard of cases where people have been arrested because of the gray area of a certain law. Another example of bad appeals to authority would be believing everything that a teacher says. Although most teachers know what they are talking about, there can be times when they may have their information wrong.
ReplyDeleteYour point about how we as a society tend to believe an individual who has no credentials to support his claim is absolutely astonishing. Welcome to marketing 101, right? We see Justin Timberlake on TV saying that his body is in such good shape because he eats one brand of yogurt rather than another is the reason people pay him so much money to say it. I have to say I was a little confused by your example of the police versus lawyers. I’m not sure who is the authority without the expertise in the field. Maybe the lawyer is the expert as they have studied the law.
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