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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill who wrote (582646)	8/25/2010 5:11:49 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572384

Thanks. Technically argument from authority is only a fallacy if its used in certain ways. If its a matter of specific fact, and the source really is a reliable one, relying on it to counter contrary claims of fact isn't a fallacy. But it is a fallacy if you assert that these claims of fact, even from a reliable source, are absolutely certain because of the source. Or if you say a logical argument, opinion, or estimate is correct, because of who makes it. Its also a fallacy, even for specific claims of fact, if you base your argument on a false authority. For the question of how many jobs where created or saved I would say that any source is a false authority. No one can really know, or even make a highly reliable estimate. The economy is too complex, there are too many factors to account for, and no controlled and/or repeatable experiments can be run. Similarly with the reverse, with ad-hominem. The bias or other defects of a source can reasonably be used to not accept specific claims of fact from that source. It can also reasonably be used as a filter to how you will spend your time. You can't normally consult every possible source, and defects in the source can mean you won't waste your time with that source. But its a fallacy if you assert not just that you don't trust the source, but that the claimed facts are wrong because of the source. Its also a fallacy if your dealing with logical argument and you reject the logic becuase of its source, since logic is valid or not valid independently of the source of the argument.