Am I not correct that the appeal to authority fallacy only applies when the authority in question is not pertinent to the point being made?
You are indeed correct. There is a larger context for the conversation between Mugaliens and Serenitude. In a different thread, Mugaliens inappropriately dismissed an argument as a fallacious appeal to authority, when in fact it was a legitimate appeal to authority. Then Mugaliens tried to establish himself as an authority and argue strenuously on that basis. It appears Serenitude is trying to persuade Mugaliens to reconcile his contradiction.
If that is correct, then mugaliens' post is not a fallacy, since he's claiming expertise in the use and interpretation of FLIR equipment. That's legitimate authority.
It is. But the problem is that Mugaliens is dismissing the legitimate authority of others who disagree with him, arguing that it is an appeal to authority and appeals to authority are categorically fallacious. In other words, Mugaliens' acceptance of authority correlates more with whether the expert opinion supports his claims rather than whether it's legitimately applied.
|