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

Argument part Evaluate Fill in the blank Flaw or descriptive weakening Inference Main conclusion or main point Method of reasoning or descriptive Most strongly supported Must be false Must be true Necessary assumption Parallel flawed method of reasoning Parallel method of reasoning Point at issue: agree Point at issue: disagree Principle PSA - find or complete the application PSA - find the rule Resolve reconcile or explain Strengthen Sufficient assumption Weaken

Reading comprehension question types

Analogy (RC) Application Author’s attitude Author’s perspective Describe approach Describe organization Describe relationship Implied Logical continuation Main point Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea) Other’s perspective Principle or generalization Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea) Purpose of paragraph Purpose of passage Stated Structure WSE (RC)

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