appeal to accomplishment
{{Short description|Informal fallacy}}
{{Refimprove|date=March 2011}}
Appeal to accomplishment is a logical fallacy wherein Person A challenges a thesis put forward by Person B because Person B has not accomplished similar feats (or as many feats) as Person C or Person A.{{cite web|last=Bennett|first=Bo|title=Appeal to Accomplishment|url=https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Appeal-to-Accomplishment|website=Logically Fallacious}}
The reverse, appealing to the fact that no one has the proper experience in question and thus cannot prove something is impossible, is a version of an argument from silence.
Appeal to accomplishment is a form of appeal to authority, which is a well-known logical fallacy. Some consider that it can be used in a cogent form when all sides of a discussion agree on the reliability of the authority in the given context.{{cite journal|last1=Lewiński|first1=Marcin|title=Comments on 'Black box arguments'|journal=Argumentation|date=2008|doi=10.1007/s10503-008-9095-x|volume=22|issue=3|pages=447–451|doi-access=free}}{{cite book|last1=Emermen|first1=Frans|title=Strategic Maneuvering in Argumentative Discourse: Extending the Pragma-dialectical Theory of Argumentation|date=2010|page=203|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nwf5AOEBWJwC|isbn=978-9027211194}}
Examples
- "How dare you criticize the prime minister? What do you know about running an entire country?"
- "I'll take your opinions on music seriously when you've released a record that went platinum."
- "Get back to me when you've built up a multi-billion dollar empire of your own. Until then, shut up."
- "If you think you know so much about making a video game, make one yourself!"
- "If you think you know so much about making a Street Mod car, make one yourself!"
- "Who are you to criticize a professional athlete? Have you ever played in a professional sports league?"