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{{Short description|Slogan popularized by psychologist Timothy Leary}}"Question authority" is a popular slogan often used on bumper stickers, T-shirts and as graffiti. The slogan was popularized by controversial psychologist Timothy Leary,BOOK,weblink Question Authority to Think for Yourself, Beverly Potter, Mark Estren, Ronin Publishing, 22, 2012, 978-1579511623, May 17, 2014, although some people have suggested that the idea behind the slogan can be traced back to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.WEB,weblink Answer: Origin of the Phrase 'Question Authority' {{!, Radical Reference}} One of the most influential icons in the counterculture movement which formed in the late 1960s out of opposition to the Vietnam War's escalation, Leary gained influence among much of the youth by advocating the use of LSD as a way of mind expansion and the revelation of personal truth. LSD was criminalized in the United States in 1966.BOOK, The Sixties Chronicle, David Farber, Legacy Publishing, 287, 2004, 141271009X, BOOK, Modern America: A Documentary History of the Nation Since 1945, Donaldson, Robert H., 128, 978-0765615374, Routledge, 2015

weblink Following the Watergate Scandal, which resulted in the resignation of US President Richard Nixon and the conviction of several officials in the Nixon administration, the slogan became arguably the most accepted form of ideology among baby boomers.THE SIXTIES CHRONICLE

PUBLISHER=LEGACY PUBLISHING

YEAR=2004, 141271009X, Benjamin Franklin is also considered an influence of the term in his challenge to question all authority.It is intended to encourage people to avoid fallacious appeals to authority. The term has always symbolized the necessity of paying attention to the rules and regulations promulgated by a government unto its citizenry. However, psychologists have also criticized Leary's method of questioning authority and have argued that it resulted in widespread dysfunctionality.BOOK,weblink Question Authority to Think for Yourself, Beverly Potter, Mark Estren, Ronin Publishing, 23, 2012, 978-1579511623, May 17, 2014, In their book Question Authority to Think for Yourself, psychologists Beverly Potter and Mark Estren alleged that the practice of Leary's philosophy enhances a person's self-interest and greatly weakens the ability to cooperate with others.However, Leary's philosophy was foreseen in concept by C. Wright Mills in his 1956 book, The Power Elite.{{blockquote|Authority formally resides "in the people", but the power of initiation is in fact held by small circles of men. That is why the standard strategy of manipulation is to make it appear that the people, or at least a large group of them, "really made the decision". That is why even when authority is available, men with access to it may still prefer the secret, quieter ways of manipulation.BOOK, Mills, C. Wright, C. Wright Mills, April 19, 1956, The Power Elite, New York, Oxford University Press, 317, 271056, }}Mills noted earlier that "It is in this mixed case – as in the intermediate reality of the American today – that manipulation is a prime way of exercising power." See also Anti-authoritarianism Anti-statism Anarchism Age of Enlightenment Libertarianism No gods, no masters Skepticism References {{reflist}}{{Timothy Leary}}{{Vocab-stub}}{{Politics-stub}}