Authority Flashcards
Mastery
rationalism
empiricism - Jon Locke , qualities
a belief or theory that opinions and actions should be based on reason and knowledge rather than on religious belief or emotional response.
jon believed you could only know reality through physical experiences in the world. Primary qualities are objective, secondary and subjective
george berkley
apple
catchphrase
disagreed with jon locke and said primary and secondary qualities are always mixed
an apple cant exist without secondary qualities, you can’t perceive the apple if it has no colour, therefore it doesn’t exist
to be is to be perceived
Michel Foucault
perception and subjective
knowledge and power
what society accepts as truth
perception and subjective experience are important aspects of knowledge
those who hold knowledge have power, and power shapes what is considered valued knowledge
truth is what people in power(have knowledge) say is truth.
what is knowledge
break down each
justified, true, belief
Justification: evidence or support
Truth: objectively correct
Belief: what YOU consider to be true
YOU NEED ALL 3, CAN’T JUST HAVE 1
epistemological
ontological
what is knowledge fundamentally
how do i know what is true
what is real
epistemological and ontological defined
Appeal to authority
Belief in something based on the authority of the person without adequate supporting facts.
- Relies on their fame, power,
status, or other attributes, to give
advice outside their domain of
competence
what is a heuristic
a mental shortcut or problem-solving strategy, it simplifies complex decisions by using approximate methods
enable one to make quick decisions and solve problems with limited info or time
leads to errors and biases
very vulnerable to appeal of authority
Someone is offered a job and accepts it without further details. A family chooses to move to another country without being familiar with the language, culture or area
Thalidomide
50s-60s
prescribed to pregnant women for morning sickness
EVERYONE assured it was safe
it caused severe birth defects and was one of the most significant drug scandals everywhere
Subtle appeals to authority
high level scientific sentence.
it is not an appeal if you are LEARNED and understand what they are saying
but if you are a student how do you know its true
not all appeals to authority are ….
when can consulting experts be right
if their arguments are based on ….
and their views are….
mistaken
consulting experts can be valuable IF THEIR EXPERTISE IS RELEVANT
if their arguments are based on sound evidence and logical reasoning,
and their views are assessed with other sources of info
we must criticaly evaluate the claims made by authorities
this involves examining the quality of evidence, considering biases, conflicts of interest, and seeking out diverse perspectives.
doing this you can make more informed decisions and avoid falling prey to appeal to authority
