Against the Person
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Contents
Description
Attacking the person making the argument, rather than the argument itself, when the attack on the person is completely irrelevant to the argument the person is making.
an accurate descriptor after the arguments are over, is just an insult, not a diversion from an argument. insults during argumentation are a manipulative tactic and a form of ad hominem, to distract away from the weakness of their own arguments
Names
Ad Hominem (Abusive)
argumentum ad hominem
also known as: personal abuse, personal attacks, abusive fallacy, appeal to the person, damning the source, name calling, refutation by caricature, against the person, against the man
Types
Irrelevant Argument, Informal Fallacy
logical Form
Person 1 is claiming Y.
Person 1 is a moron.
Therefore, Y is not true.
Examples
Discord Examples
- 1
"you believe the earth is flat? that means you are a moron."
personal opinion
- 2
"you are an idiot, therefor the earth cant be flat"
unrelated, non sequitur.
- 3
"you are a retard, therefor the earth is a globe"
in all 3 cases he is diverting away from the actual argument (a red herring) to make an ad hominem attack, as if that validated his position or refuted the current argument which it does not...
- 4
"Those who think the earth is flat must have never have completed elementary school."
the two are not logically connected, in fact there are more globers who have never completed elementary school then possibly flat earther, simply due to the numbers game and to become a real flat earther takes research and dedication to the truth.
Other examples
- 1
My opponent suggests that lowering taxes will be a good idea -- this is coming from a woman who eats a pint of Ben and Jerry’s each night!
The fact that the woman loves her ice cream, has nothing to do with the lowering of taxes, and therefore, is irrelevant to the argument. Ad hominem attacks are usually made out of desperation when one cannot find a decent counter argument.
- 2
Tony wants us to believe that the origin of life was an “accident”. Tony is a godless SOB who has spent more time in jail than in church, so the only information we should consider from him is the best way to make license plates.
Tony may be a godless SOB. Perhaps he did spend more time in the joint than in church, but all this is irrelevant to his argument or truth of his claim as to the origin of life.
Weakness
pointing at the weakness of that argument or that this line of reasoning is completely irrelevant to the deductive logic or evidence used in the core argument.
Extra information
Exception:
When the attack on the person is relevant to the argument, it is not a fallacy. In our first non FE example, if the issue being debated was the elimination of taxes only on Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, then pointing out her eating habits would be strong evidence of a conflict of interest.
Tip: When others verbally attack you, take it as a compliment to the quality of your argument. It is usually a sign of desperation on their part.
Ref Rulings
for quick and easy fallacy moderation
Objection Stands
Objection Stands. That was an Abusive ad hominem attack.
you Attack the person making the argument, rather than the argument itself, when the attack on the person is completely irrelevant to the argument the person is making.
insults during argumentation are a manipulative tactic and a form of ad hominem, to distract away from the weakness of their own arguments
please reformulate a argument without this fallacy or concede and move on. failure to do either and you'll forfeit the debate. please continue.
Objection Removed
Objection removed. That is not an abusive ad hominem attack.
Ad hominem means to Attack the person making the argument, rather than the argument itself, when the attack on the person is completely irrelevant to the argument the person is making.
An accurate descriptor after the arguments are over or one person refuses to be rational and engage in reasonable argument, is just an insult, not a diversion from an argument.
Please reformulate the counter argument without the fallacy fallacy variation or concede and move on. failure to do either and you'll forfeit the debate. please continue.
