On On arguments from authority and their legitimacy in philosophical debates

Abstract

Argument from authority is one which intends to establish the plausibility of a proposition in the credibility of whom uttered it/the utterer. In this case, the person, discipline or tradition which is appealed to in the argumentation needs to be accepted as an undisputed authority in the area of the proposition in question. The fallacious use of authority, which is quite frequent, causes arguments from authority to be generally frowned upon, even when pertinent. In this work, the concept of the argument from authority and the conventional criteria for verifying its legitimacy are revised. Furthermore, the very notion of authority and the acceptability of its use in philosophical debates are called into question, in which the conventional criteria for its evaluation do not fully apply. Finally, it is argued that it is reasonable to use arguments from authority in dealing with philosophical questions.