PHIL 1200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Thesis Statement, Vagueness, Ad Hominem
20 Jun 2018
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Arguments Against Authority
Arguments against authority
-reverse of an appeal to authority
Might argue:
-that the authority’s credentials are questionable
-no degree
-not from a real school
-received degree because of financial donation
-received an honorary degree
-that the authority’s credentials are irrelevant to the question at hand
-that the alleged authority is biased
-there is significant disagreement among the relevant experts on the topic in question
-that the topic is one where expertise cannot be claimed
Note: no particular scheme for arguments against authority; just arguing that one of the conditions for
good arguments from authority is not satisfied.
appeal to eyewitness testimony
Type of pro homine
Typical in court room settings
Also very commonly relied upon in everyday settings
Scheme:
P1: O (the observer) was in a good position to observe X.
P2: There are no obvious factors that would bias the account given.
P3: O has documented the observation.
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C: O’s account of X is reliable.
( P1 — obviously necessary! —> external and internal conditions)
p3— not necessary for a good appeal to eyewitness testimony, but it sure helps!
Guilt and Honour by association
Careful: this argument type is very prone to abuse
If P1 and P2 are acceptable, and there is no reason to think that X and Y are different in this respect,
then the argument can be a good one.
General method:
Analyze argument - identify MC, premises, HPs
Apply RSA criteria (chapter 8)
Some arguments don’t fit our schemes; then we apply the general method
Some arguments fall under multiple argument types
So, write out all premises and the MC, and the HPs. Diagram the argument, to keep its structure clear for
yourself
Two main branches of critical thinking:
Evaluating others reasoning
Constructing our own
often in response to others arguments
Evaluate critique
analyze; identify MC,Ps, HPs
Identify argument schemes
Overview
identify the main conclusion
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