'Ad hominem' - attacking the person rather than the idea he expressed,
in order to damage the perceived validity of that argument. I think
it's on Aristotle's original list, Some time ago I set out to list and
define all the fallacies - turned out to be the labour of Hercules.
Over fifty pages so far and still going. I must get it up on line some
time! Here's the extract on 'ad hominem'.
Andrew Fildes
afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ad hominem fallacy - against the man.
Ad hominem is the attempt to destroy an argument by attacking your
opponent’s character, motives, personality, intentions, or
qualifications.
Example:
"Harry couldn't possibly know what good food is - he was raised in
England."
The ad hominem claims that being English disqualifies someone from
making good judgement about cuisine. The implication is that the
English eat terrible food. The attacks are usually nastier than this
example, which might be heard in France.
Examples: “Yeah, well what would she know?!” or “He’s got a hidden
agenda.”
Note: Insulting or denigrating the character or morality of an
individual is not an ad hominem, as is often claimed. It is an ad
hominem only if the personal attacks are used within a logical
argument where the arguer’s character is irrelevant to the logic.
On 12/12/2009, at 8:47 AM, Fernando Gonzalez Gentile wrote:
> There are people, and there are questions / problems: I make my best
> to not superimpose both, that would be an 'ad hominem' fallacy (John
> Locke ? - help please, Andrew).
--
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