Anonymous Authority

Greenberg, 2011

 This type of fallacy (Anonymous Authority) is misleading because it is not confirmed whether or not the authority is an expert.  Appealing to rumours is another version of this fallacy because the source of the information is also unknown. A valid authority is one that is not just credible but can be verified. 

For example, many financial analysts believe that the American stock market during the Occupy Wall street Protests will plummet.  However, who were the financial analysts and how could their information be verified? 

Revision: McLean & Partners Edward Friedman believe that the decline in stocks will result from businesses receiving negative press from Occupy Wall street protesters. 


About.com. (n.d.). Logical Fallacies: About.com. Retrieved from About.com: http://atheism.about.com/od/logicalfallacies/a/authority_4.htm
 (http://www.fallacies.ca/an


How to prevent using the Anonymous Authority Fallacy

Avoiding Anonymous Authority is difficult because when we justify our evidence, we often use vague words and vague recollection to justify our source of information.  So the best solution is to verify the source and qualifications of the “experts.”



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