(March 28, 2013 at 10:30 pm)jstrodel Wrote:(March 28, 2013 at 10:24 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: Even then, it's still a fallacy. Argument of authority, argument from popularity, increase the chance of something being true often, and depending on the subject, increase it significantly. But doctors even have prescribed things that ended up being discovered to be very harmful, and it was agreed upon by the authorities. And medical authority is the best authority out there, yet even then, it's not 100% immune to error.
I've said it before, argument from ignorance is also often a strong argument. If it wasn't strong at all, the problem of evil would not have bothered anyone nor would anyone use it as an argument. But it's a fallacy at the end.
It isn't a fallacy. Because something isn't 100% perfect doesn't make it a fallacy. It is not fallacious to consider what a doctor says simply because they are a doctor. That doesn't mean that it is 100% perfect.
Practically, the way that people learn is through tradition and prejudice, it is not purely through reason. The vast majority of people cannot use reason effectively, and when they do, it is always a cooperative enterprise, relying on the authorities of various people at different levels. This is the way the modern world functions, doesn't mean that different parts of each thing isn't subject to scrutiny, but it is not the same as being an observer of everything going on.
Argument from authority is quite simple. It means "Authorities said so, so therefore it is true". That is a fallacy.
I don't know what you are defining the argument from authority of being but the argument from authority is exactly that.
The argument from ignorance is even often more stronger then argument from authority. Because if most humans or all humans we come across cannot think of a reason, it seems very likely that reason doesn't exist. But it's a fallacy never the less.
