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I've actually studied a lot about logical fallacies, and so I can tell you with certainty that appeal to authority is, indeed, a logical fallacy. Source: Mysel

I've actually studied a lot about logical fallacies, and so I can tell you with certainty that appeal to authority is, indeed, a logical fallacy. Source: Myself, an authority Joking aside, you are just misrepresenting what the "appeal to authority" logical fallacy is. An "appeal to authority" is when one argues that "X is correct because <insert some expert> said it was". In really, X is either correct or incorrect, regardless of what any authority has said about it. So yes, appeal to authority is absolutely a logical fallacy. Changing the definition of those words and then arguing that your definition isn't a fallacy is called a fallacy of equivocation. And yes, a fallacy of equivocation is also a logical fallacy.

kadoban 5y ago
What's really going on here is two different meanings of the word "argument". Appeal to authority is indeed a fallacy if you're dealing with a logical argument meant to prove something absolutely and undeniably true. That's not the only kind of argument that exists though, and we're pretty unlikely to be in that kind of argument on the internet talking about current events. When trying to tell from incomplete facts what's more likely to be true, listening to what an expert says is a pretty good start.
- spiderice 5y ago
  I agree with everything you said. But I still say that “appeal to authority is not a logical fallacy” is a false statement, regardless of whatever shinanigans is going on in this discussion.
  - kadoban 5y ago
    Agreed. It's always a true statement, though sometimes irrelevant.
- dekhn 5y ago
  you can't provide anything absolutely and undeniably true, except maybe in math. I mean, I used to do debate and after some time I noticed that none of it was based on truly logical arguments; everything was about persuasive seduction and coming up with the minimum to cast doubt on your opponent's position. But yeah, I like the way you put this; we're just arguing on the internet about things which are too messy to have a true false dichotomy.
  - kadoban 5y ago
    > you can't provide anything absolutely and undeniably true, except maybe in math Logic is part of math, and logic is where logical fallacies come from.

kadoban 5y ago

What's really going on here is two different meanings of the word "argument". Appeal to authority is indeed a fallacy if you're dealing with a logical argument meant to prove something absolutely and undeniably true. That's not the only kind of argument that exists though, and we're pretty unlikely to be in that kind of argument on the internet talking about current events. When trying to tell from incomplete facts what's more likely to be true, listening to what an expert says is a pretty good start.

spiderice 5y ago
I agree with everything you said. But I still say that “appeal to authority is not a logical fallacy” is a false statement, regardless of whatever shinanigans is going on in this discussion.
- kadoban 5y ago
  Agreed. It's always a true statement, though sometimes irrelevant.
dekhn 5y ago
you can't provide anything absolutely and undeniably true, except maybe in math. I mean, I used to do debate and after some time I noticed that none of it was based on truly logical arguments; everything was about persuasive seduction and coming up with the minimum to cast doubt on your opponent's position. But yeah, I like the way you put this; we're just arguing on the internet about things which are too messy to have a true false dichotomy.
- kadoban 5y ago
  > you can't provide anything absolutely and undeniably true, except maybe in math Logic is part of math, and logic is where logical fallacies come from.