Logic / Unit 8 Logic 384 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Appeal to Unqualified Authority
Captions available
The idea
Citing an authority outside their competence, or one whose reliability is compromised.
In practice
A celebrated physicist endorsing a diet plan. Fame doesn't transfer between fields.
Where people slip
Near-miss: citing qualified authority in-domain is not a fallacy — it's how finite beings know most of what they know.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
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