Forms
The argument from authority (argumentum ad verecundiam) can take several forms. As a statistical syllogism, the argument has the following basic structure:
- Most of what authority A has to say on subject matter S is correct.
- A says P about subject matter S.
- Therefore, P is correct.
The strength of this authoritative argument depends upon two factors:
- The authority is a legitimate expert on the subject.
- There exists consensus among legitimate experts in the subject matter under discussion.
The two factors — legitimate expertise and expert consensus — can be incorporated to the structure of the statistical syllogism, in which case, the argument from authority can be structured thus:
- X holds that A is true.
- X is a legitimate expert on the subject matter.
- The consensus of subject-matter experts agrees with X.
- Therefore, there exists a presumption that A is true.
Read more about this topic: Argument From Authority
Famous quotes containing the word forms:
“Year chases year, decay pursues decay,
Still drops some joy from with’ring life away;
New forms arise, and diff’rent views engage,”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“The highest perfection of politeness is only a beautiful edifice, built, from the base to the dome, of ungraceful and gilded forms of charitable and unselfish lying.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Painting dissolves the forms at its command, or tends to; it melts them into color. Drawing, on the other hand, goes about resolving forms, giving edge and essence to things. To see shapes clearly, one outlines them—whether on paper or in the mind. Therefore, Michelangelo, a profoundly cultivated man, called drawing the basis of all knowledge whatsoever.”
—Alexander Eliot (b. 1919)