I try to teach my students that argument by authority
is VERBOTEN!!!!!!
In general I agree with Jack. But not always. On some issues we have to
agree to respect the authority of persons or groups identified to decide
things for the world. That's the idea behind IUPAP, IUPAC, NIST, etc. This
is especially true when it comes to standards and units, but I think it is
also somewhat true in terms of definitions.
We can't have multiple definitions of SI units. It would be chaos if we
did. It is less important to rid ourselves of multiple explanations for the
concept of force, but it would be good to eliminate as much chaos as
possible by agreeing on a definition... or... agreeing to accept the
definition of some "authority."
Or stated another way... we do have authority figures and authority
organizations in science. Therefore, when individuals like us get into
e-mail discussions about these kinds of issues, why don't we do a little
looking around to see what the "authorities" have to say about the issue?
Authorities are not guaranteed to be right. But the reason they are
considered authorities is either because they were chosen to be authorities,
or because they have established a good track record. My investment advisor
is not always right, but he has a heck of a better track record than I would
have by myself. Therefore I respect him as an authority for what I should
do with my investment money (which unfortunately doesn't amount to much).
Additionally, the question Robert Cohen is asking (about F=ma being a
theory) is how common is this particular viewpoint. We could approach this
by randomly asking people we meet on the street, but I would think it much
more productive to choose some people or some organizations who have
established some sort of authority in this field, and ask them. We on this
list are some of those authorities. But we are not the only ones.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817