3 1 4
C H A P T E R 1 5 ■ F a l l a c i e s o f R e l e v a n c e
1.Inaheateddiscussion,peoplewillsometimesaskanopponent,“Whyare
youbeingsodefensive?”Thisisobviouslyarhetoricalquestion.Whatisthe
pointofthisquestion?Doesitimplicitlyinvolveanadhominemfallacy?
2.InthebiblicalstoryofJob,Jobisdescribedasapersonwho“wasblameless
andupright,onewhofearedGodandturnedawayfromevil”(Job1:1).
SatanchallengesGodtoallowhimtosubjectJobtotheworstcalamities
toseeifJob’sfaithwillremainunchanged.Afterthemostextrememisfor-
tunes,Jobfinallycriesoutandaskswhyheshouldbemadetosufferso
(Job38:1–4):
ThentheLordansweredJoboutofthewhirlwind:
Whoisthisthatdarkenscounselbywordswithoutknowledge?
Girdupyourloinslikeaman.
Iwillquestionyou,andyoushalldeclaretome.
WherewereyouwhenIlaidthefoundationoftheearth?
Tellme,ifyouhaveunderstanding.
DoesGod’sresponsetoJobinvolveanadhominemsilencer,dismisser,
ordenier?Isitjustified?Whyorwhynot?
Discussion Questions
Appeals to Authority
Ofteninthemidstofanargument,weciteanauthoritytobackupwhatwe
say.AswesawinChapter3,thisisastandardwayofofferingassurances.
Incitinganauthority,insteadofgivingreasonsforwhatwesay,weindicate
thatsomeone(thecitedauthority)couldgivethem.
Althoughlogicianssometimesspeakofthefallacyofappealingto
authorities,thereisoftennothingwrongwithcitingauthoritiesorexperts
tosupportwhatwesay.Anauthorityisapersonorinstitutionwithaprivi-
legedpositionconcerningcertaininformation.Throughtraining,adoctor
isanexpertoncertaindiseases.ApersonwhoworksintheDepartment
ofAgriculturecanbeanexpertonAmerica’ssoybeanproduction.Some-
onewhogrewupintheswampsmightbeanexpertontrappingmuskrats.
Becausesomepeoplestandinabetterpositiontoknowthingsthanothers,
thereisnothingimproperaboutcitingthemasauthorities.Infact,anappeal
toexpertsandauthoritiesisessentialifwearetomakeupourmindson
subjectsoutsideourownrangeofcompetence.
Atthesametime,appealstoauthoritycanbeabused,andtherearesome
obviousquestionsweshouldaskwheneversuchanappealismade.Most
obviously,weshouldalwaysaskwhetherthepersoncitedis,infact,an
authorityatall.Moreover,itisnotenoughtobeanauthorityinsomeareaor
other.Weneedtoaskwhetherthepersoncitedisanauthorityintheparticu-
larareaunderdiscussion.Iftheanswertothisquestionis“No,”thenweare
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