Authority

The Collapse of Credible Authority

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The Collapse of Credible AuthorityE.M. Cadwaladr – I grew up in a world in which most authorities could be trusted most of the time. True, it was already a cliché that Washington, D.C. was full of liars. And yes, everyone knew about medical malpractice. Even people who weren’t Marxists understood that corporations, from time to time, were guilty of committing genuine wrongs against the public.

Still, overall, the people who were running things were usually accountable. There was an ingrained, unspoken sense of decency and social responsibility long before the current twisted understanding of social justice (i.e., revenge) had a chance to muscle it out.

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The Argument From Authority

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authorityPaul Rosenberg – Our fallacy #4 was the appeal to authority, the claim that being authorized makes things right. We noted a similar fallacy in our #8, the naturalist fallacy, a claim that time creates authority and truth. For today’s fallacy, however, I want to turn these around: Not third parties referring to authority, but authority itself telling us what’s right. And so I’m calling this fallacy, the argument from authority.

The things we’ll be covering in this installment involve well-known fallacies like the argument from repetition (repeating something until everyone just accepts it), the courtier’s reply (claiming that the other person’s argument is wrong because he or she lacks credentials) and the argument from incredulity (“Your argument is absurd!”). All of these work because they come from authority, and so I think it’s better to examine them in that way. Continue reading →

The “Appeal To Authority” Fallacy

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appeal to authorityPaul Rosenberg – The appeal to authority fallacy (also called argument from authority) is a very simple one, but it can be tricky to deal with. This fallacy says that we should not believe things just because people with authority say they’re right. Typically, the fallacy appears like this:

Person A: XYZ is happening, and the world is in great danger because of it.

Person B: Why in the world would I believe XYZ is happening? I see no evidence.

Person A: Ha! The New York Times, the Harvard Review, the Counsel of Churches and scientific consensus have all said it’s happening!

And here’s another common use: Continue reading →

An Ideological Civil War Is Here

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The left doesn’t want to secede. It wants to rule.

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam.

authorityDaniel Greenfield – A civil war has begun.

This civil war is very different than the last one. There are no cannons or cavalry charges. The left doesn’t want to secede. It wants to rule. Political conflicts become civil wars when one side refuses to accept the existing authority. The left has rejected all forms of authority that it doesn’t control.

The left has rejected the outcome of the last two presidential elections won by Republicans. It has rejected the judicial authority of the Supreme Court when it decisions don’t accord with its agenda. It rejects the legislative authority of Congress when it is not dominated by the left.

It rejected the Constitution so long ago that it hardly bears mentioning.

It was for total unilateral executive authority under Obama. And now it’s for states unilaterally deciding what laws they will follow. (As long as that involves defying immigration laws under Trump, not following them under Obama.) It was for the sacrosanct authority of the Senate when it held the majority. Then it decried the Senate as an outmoded institution when the Republicans took it over. Continue reading →

Be Your Own Authority

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authorityOwen K Waters – In the 1960s, parents and teachers complained that the younger generation had less respect for authority than they did when they were that age. In the 1980s, parents and teachers complained that the younger generation had less respect for authority than they did when they were that age. In the 2000s, well, you get the picture. Every generation has progressed more in the same direction because The Shift is dissolving the old habit of submission to authority.

Traditionally, organizations were run on hierarchies of authority. In order to work within a hierarchy, you were expected to surrender your willingness to think for yourself and, instead, obey orders without question. Human creativity was suppressed while such a structure encouraged people to be closed-minded when exposed to any new information or ideas.

People with open minds, on the other hand, can think for themselves and therefore become their own authorities. Being open to new ideas, they can awaken to creative, new solutions to challenges in their work and in their lives.

Once the human mind is free to think for itself, these new ideas and solutions can be gained from the three main stages of focused conscious awareness. These are:

1) Concentration. This is used to make a study and rational analysis of all available material.

2) Reflection. This is the process of digesting information, sleeping on it, and thinking it over on more than one occasion. It opens up the problem to more levels of consciousness than just the daily, waking consciousness. Each time the situation is examined, a more insightful overview is obtained, leading to deeper and longer-lasting solutions. Continue reading →