Appeal to confidence

An appeal to confidence occurs when somebody's confidence in some fact is taken as proof of that fact. On the other hand, an appeal to unconfidence (also ad fidentia, against self-confidence) occurs when somebody's lack of confidence in some fact is taken as disproof of that fact. Either appeal ties confidence to authority and ties authority to truth.

Cogito ergo sum
Logic and rhetoric
Key articles
General logic
Bad logic
v - t - e
“”You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it.
—George Zimmer (Men's Warehouse CEO)

It is an appeal to authority (or lack of authority), an informal fallacy, and a fallacious argument.

If the arguer additionally states something along the lines of "doesn't his confidence just lift your spirits?" or the inverse, it also qualifies as an emotional appeal.

Form

Appeal to confidence:

P1: A says Q.
P2: A says: "Trust me — I know what I'm doing!"
C: Q is true!

Appeal to unconfidence:

P1: A says Q.
P2: A's shaking in their boots!
C: Q is false!
gollark: I assume you mean PotatOS for x87™, not "legit demons".
gollark: It's entirely possible.
gollark: You can't be. You're my alt.
gollark: But I can.
gollark: Just write the code in 13 minutes.

See also
This article is issued from Rationalwiki. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.