4 ms·

Trust is a necessity, not authority. Those with authority are often not trustworthy.

• burkaman 4y ago
  I get it but in this context "authority" means an authority on a particular topic, not like a police officer or something. Appeal to authority becomes a fallacy when you appeal to someone who is not actually an authority on the subject at hand.
  • diffxx 4y ago
    But how do you determine if someone is an authority? Our world is filled with epistemological bubbles. One person's expert is another's snake oil peddler.
    • burkaman 4y ago
      Right, I don't think we really disagree about anything. "That's an appeal to authority" is not a useful objection, because appealing to authority is often a great idea. "That's not a good authority" is a good objection and often very relevant. It's sort of like seeing a lot of arguments that rely on false or misleading evidence and deciding that "appeal to evidence" is a fallacy. The choice of authority or evidence is the issue, not the act of appealing.
  • ilyt 4y ago
    It's also when you have no argument and when confronted defer to "they must know their shit"