Appeal to Authority
Treating a claim as true simply because an authority figure asserts it.
- informal
An appeal to authority (argumentum ad verecundiam) takes a claim to be true merely because someone respected, famous, or credentialed says so — especially when the authority is speaking outside their expertise, is biased, or when experts actually disagree. Expertise is evidence, not proof.
Examples
- “A celebrity doctor endorsed this supplement, so it must work.”
- “A famous physicist doubts this nutrition study, so the study must be wrong.”
Why it works & how to counter
Persuasive because deferring to experts is usually reasonable. Counter it by checking whether the authority is actually expert in this domain and whether the broader evidence agrees.