John,
I do not think we can separate the ad hominem from logic, John. All
discussion contains some form of logic, some form of argumentation,
especially when our goal is to present and support a point of view. In it's
simplist form the ad hominem argument is merely an appeal to emotion rather
than logic.
Actually, David's statement is not an ad hominem comment directed at you.
From www.dictionary.com:
tau·tol·o·gy ( P ) Pronunciation Key (tô-tl-j)
n. pl. tau·tol·o·gies
1. a. Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy.
b. An instance of such repetition.
2. Logic. An empty or vacuous statement composed of simpler statements in a
fashion that makes it logically true whether the simpler statements are
factually true or false; for example, the statement "Either it will rain
tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow".
The point, John, is that a tautology is always true, cannot ever be
false, "states the obvious", adding nothing to an argument. In that sense it
is "meaningless". In mathemetics, a simple example of a tautology is "1=1".
What does that add to your understanding of mathematics? Nothing. In that
sense it is a "meaningless tautology".
Perry
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I do not use ad hom in the sense of an issue of logic. I use it in the
same sense as the dictionary definition I included earlier -- that's my
story and I am sticking with it.
JD
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"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you
ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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