Objective Approach - Authority

Authority

Taking an objective approach often contrasts with arguments from authority, where it is argued that X is true because an authority Y says so. The presumption is that Y is an authority capable of taking the most objective approach. But it may be necessary to evaluate the view of Y against other authorities likewise claiming to take an objective approach. This is an important aspect of academic scholarly method in the modern sense. Also, note that Wikipedia is not an uncontroversial (and some would argue not objective) source, and one should consider this when using it for research (which you should not do uncritically or unreservedly).

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Famous quotes containing the word authority:

    The function of literature, through all its mutations, has been to make us aware of the particularity of selves, and the high authority of the self in its quarrel with its society and its culture. Literature is in that sense subversive.
    Lionel Trilling (1905–1975)

    Women who assume authority are unnatural. Unnatural women are lesbians. Therefore all the leaders of the women’s movement were presumed to be lesbians.
    Jane O’Reilly, U.S. feminist and humorist. The Girl I Left Behind, ch. 8 (1980)

    Authority is not a quality one person “has,” in the sense that he has property or physical qualities. Authority refers to an interpersonal relation in which one person looks upon another as somebody superior to him.
    Erich Fromm (1900–1980)