Appeal to Authority in The Office

The American adaption of The Office, an originally British show, is one of the most popular television shows in recent memory. It is a mockumentary of the happenings of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. While it appears to be just a normal, primetime sitcom, it has logical fallacies, including appeal to authority, buried in the show.

Dwight Schrute is one of the show's main characters. He might be the most liked and the most popular character on the show. He is often used a the right hand man of the branch's manager, the infamous Michael Scott. However, Schrute is not often seen as a man of authority. He wants to be recognized as a man of power, so he uses the logical fallacy of appealing to authority. His official title is assistant to the regional manager, but he feels as if that is not powerful enough for him. Instead, Dwight tries to make himself assistant regional manager, a title he feels is more just.

This example of a logical fallacy is very similar, in my opinion, to the one in the Monty Python Clips, of Arthur, who always introduces himself as "Arthur, King of the Britains." He uses this title to make himself more important, in a similar fashion that Dwight does in The Office. While a sitcom at heart, The Office also uses logical fallacies.