The Name Of This Group’s Chosen Logical Fallacy
The name of this group’s chosen logical fallacy is the Appeal to Authority Fallacy.
Definition the Logical Fallacy
The Appeal to Authority Fallacy is an Informal Fallacy falling under the Fallacies of Relevance. The informal fallacies lack adequate evidence to support the statements made; therefore, there are no compelling reasons to accept it. The Fallacies of Relevance fallacies convince people to accept irrelevant information by provoking emotions instead of logical reasoning. Therefore, Appeal to Authority Fallacy is a fallacy that comes out when a person attempts to give relevance to his/her thought by attaching the argument a widely known personality in the field instead of bringing out the argument clearly and understandably acceptance.
Example of the Group’s Chosen Logical Fallacy
President Obama says that it is essential that we all come out and vote for the new president because bad leaders are elected by those who don’t vote. Therefore, the presidential candidate that you voted against becomes a good leader upon winning elections because Obama said that only those staying away from voting elects terrible leaders.
Why People Who Write Speeches or Essays
The Appeal to Authority Fallacy is one of the most common fallacies encountered in peoples’ speeches. In most cases, this type of fallacy is incorporated intentionally by the speechwriters to reinforce information, points, or relevance to the ideas expressed in the speech by mentioning people who are known to possess exemplary expertise in the topic of discussion. Besides, speechwriters use this fallacy in speeches to bring quick conclusions to discussions and avoid questions that may arise, as the audience is driven into silent emotional consultation with the mentioned person in authority. For example, almost no one may stand tall to question President Obama’s advice on the need for participating in elections.
However, while requests to power are in no way consistently considered a fallacy, they can immediately become hazardous when you depend too intensely on the assessment of a solitary individual, particularly if that individual is endeavoring to approve something outside of their ability. Getting a position figure to back your opinion can be a fantastic expansion to a current contention; however, it cannot be the column your whole claims lays on. Because somebody in a place of intensity thinks something to be valid does not entirely prove its validity.
When writers or speakers use appeal to authority, they claim that something must be right because it is believed by someone who said to be an “authority” on the subject. Whether the person is an authority or not, the logic is unsound. Instead of presenting actual evidence, the argument relies on the credibility of the “authority.”
Likewise, when speakers use appeal to authority fallacy, they assert that something must be genuine as it is accepted by somebody who is known to be in “authority” regarding the matter. Regardless of whether the individual is really in an authoritative position or not, the rationale remains vague (Cook, 2019).
A Visual Representation of the Logical Fallacy
References
Cook, K. (2019). 15 common logical fallacies and how to spot them. Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/common-logical-fallacies