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Bad authority

(BadAuth)

Arguments that rely on an inappropriate authority to support their conclusions (e.g. conventional mathematics is fundamentally flawed because Terrence Howard says so).

Avg. 0.0 per section
29%
14%
29%
14%
14%

Avg. difficulty: 2.7

Key tactics

  • Just because someone says (or even a lot of people say) X, that doesn't mean X is true.
  • This is brought to focus when that someone is opining on a subject where we have no reason to believe that they have special knowledge. E.g., asking the general public about the latest theories in quantum computing or asking a biologist about foreign policy.

Answer choice tips

  • Example answer choices that point to this flaw:
  • makes an illegitimate appeal to the authority of an expert
  • appeals to the authoritativeness of an opinion without evaluating the merit of a putative counterexample
  • infers a claim to be false merely because a majority of people believe it to be false
  • provides no justification for giving preference to the views of one rather than the other of two competing sets of authorities.

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Logical reasoning question types

Alternate explanation Analogy (LR) Argument part Bad authority Causal chain Causal mechanism Causal reasoning Circular reasoning Conditional reasoning Confusing sufficiency and necessity Correlation Diagram? Directionally wrong Eliminating options Equivocation Evaluate Except (LR) Failed alternate explanation False dichotomy Fighting the hypothetical Fill in the blank Flaw or descriptive weakening Illusory inconsistency Inference Internal contradiction Irrelevant corroboration Kick it up Lack of support v. false conclusion Link assumption Main conclusion or main point Math Mental state v. reality Method of reasoning or descriptive Miscellaneous (LR) Misdirected response Most strongly supported Must be false Must be true Necessary assumption Parallel flawed method of reasoning Parallel method of reasoning Part v. whole Phenomenon-hypothesis (LR) Plausibility Point at issue: agree Point at issue: disagree Principle PSA - find or complete the application PSA - find the rule Quantifier Relative v. absolute Resolve reconcile or explain Rule-application Sampling Source attack Strengthen Sufficient assumption Time Unwarranted assumption Value judgment Weaken Weighing factors

Reading comprehension question types

Analogy (RC) Application Art Author’s attitude Author’s perspective Comparative Critique or debate Describe approach Describe organization Describe relationship Except (RC) Humanities Implied Law Logical continuation Main point Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea) Miscellaneous (RC) Other’s perspective Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC) Principle or generalization Problem-analysis Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea) Purpose of paragraph Purpose of passage Science Single position Spotlight Stated Structure WSE (RC)

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