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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 3886127" data-attributes="member: 18280">?  And what, exactly, had you laughing there ?Or is this an "argument by ridicule"?Book publishers, so far as I know, are experts in selling books, not experts in critiquing them.From <a href="http://www.fallacyfiles.org/authorit.html:" target="_blank">http://www.fallacyfiles.org/authorit.html:</a>To sum up these points in a positive manner, before relying upon expert opinion, go through the following checklist: *  Is this a matter which I can decide without appeal to expert opinion? If the answer is "yes", then do so. If "no", go to the next question: *  Is this a matter upon which expert opinion is available? If not, then your opinion will be as good as anyone else's. If so, proceed to the next question: *  Is the authority an expert on the matter? If not, then why listen? If so, go on: *  Is the authority biased towards one side? If so, the authority may be untrustworthy. At the very least, before accepting the authority's word seek a second, unbiased opinion. That is, go to the last question: *  Is the authority's opinion representative of expert opinion? If not, then find out what the expert consensus is and rely on that. If so, then you may rationally rely upon the authority's opinion. If an argument to authority cannot pass these five tests, then it commits the fallacy of appeal to misleading authority. Now, I would posit that "What does the term fantasy mean, in relation to the fantasy genre?" and "What is the fantasy genre?" are questions which, while we certainly can have opinions on, are questions that cannot be answered objectively.  It is, IMHO, a topic to which study allows a greater understanding, and thus one to which authority can speak.  It is not, IMHO, a topic where everyone's opinion is as good as everyone else's.Is expert opinion available?  Certainly.  I would claim that the rigorously researched Encyclopedia of Fantasy (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Encyclopedia_of_Fantasy" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Encyclopedia_of_Fantasy</a>) is a good example of a source for expert opinion.  Conversely, we can neither examine the remarks made by your lit profs, nor can we be certain of their credentials.Is the EoF biased?  I don't believe so, but I would be willing to entertain discussion on that topic.  Conversely, we can't determine whether or not your profs or mine were biased on the basis of (for example) their personal preferences.Is the EoF's opinion representative of expert opinion?  In some ways, yes, and in others no.  Certainly there is a great deal of debate on this topic.  However, insofar as there is a representative expert opinion, I would argue that the EoF represents just that.Therefore, I tend to think that the EoF is a pretty good authority to use, and I will attempt to copy out some of the text thereof (esp. Def. of Fantasy) over the course of the week, if you'd like.RC</blockquote>

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