Missing the point I think. Einstein wasn’t stating this as any sort of appeal to authority. He was expressing his confidence in his mathematical proofs.
Mathematical proofs are an appeal to authority. Their standards rest entirely on the ability of experts on Mathematics to understand them. If we had a canonical mechanical proof-checker or something, it might be a different story.
But they were Einstein’s proofs. He was confident in the math that he understood. If he were trying to convince someone else, then yes he’d be using himself as an authority.
Missing the point I think. Einstein wasn’t stating this as any sort of appeal to authority. He was expressing his confidence in his mathematical proofs.
Mathematical proofs are an appeal to authority. Their standards rest entirely on the ability of experts on Mathematics to understand them. If we had a canonical mechanical proof-checker or something, it might be a different story.
But they were Einstein’s proofs. He was confident in the math that he understood. If he were trying to convince someone else, then yes he’d be using himself as an authority.