[lentulusgracchus]

Appeal to Authority (argumentum ad verecundiam)
Definition: While sometimes it may be appropriate to cite an authority to support a point, often it is not. In particular, an appeal to authority is inappropriate if:

1. the person is not qualified to have an expert opinion on the subject,
2. experts in the field disagree on this issue.
3. the authority was making a joke, drunk, or otherwise not being serious

Satisfying, or pointing out in argument the satisfaction of, one of these conditions is referred to as "subverted authority". I used it in pointing out that Gordon Wood is an author of markedly antirepublican and antidemocratic views who considers the American Revolution a failure and Hamilton as some sort of demiurge. You used it in dishing up the speckled career and deep-pink sympathies of Jack Rakove, and his lack of credentials in the field in which he was writing.

[nolu chan]

See my #1012.

When confronted with the erudition of Justice Scalia, the first thing Professor Wood did was note his lack of credentials for legal argument.

[capitan_refugio]

"I used it in pointing out that Gordon Wood is an author of markedly antirepublican and antidemocratic views who considers the American Revolution a failure and Hamilton as some sort of demiurge."

You must not have read very much of his work. Otherwise you wouldn't make such an ignorant statement.