Thanks, Paul. This technical term was often misapplied on purple in
years thankfully bygone, for the most part. It has a very precise
meaning, which is NOT "calling somebody a bad name" or "judging them
harshly".
If I say, "Tony is a child molester, because here is a photo of him
molesting a child," that isn't an ad hominem attack. It is a factual
claim backed up by evidence which is pertinent to the point I am trying
to prove. It may be a harsh point, but it is not illogical. All criminal
prosecutions, after all, are about saying that X is a criminal. These
are not ad hominem arguments, however.
If I say, "Tony's argument that the sun is shining is wrong, because
Tony is a child molester," THAT is an ad hominem argument. It may be
true that Tony is a child molester. But there is no logical relation
between child-molesterhood and sun detection. Roman Polanski is just as
capable as Mother Theresa of telling whether the sun is shining. I am
trying to trick you into rejecting Tony's argument by making you dislike
Tony on unrelated grounds.
If I say, "Tony is either a fool or a liar, because he argues the park
needs fixing whereas everyone can see it is in mint condition," that
isn't an ad hominem attack. It is a factual claim that people can verify
for themselves.
If I say, "Tony's argument that the park needs fixing is wrong, because
Tony is a gentrifier," that is an ad hominem argument. It assumes that
"gentrifiers," whatever that means, are bad people and that good people
should therefore reject any factual claim a gentrifier makes.
-- Tony West
On 2/25/2010 8:03 AM, [email protected] wrote:
ad hominem
PRONUNCIATION:
(ad HO-mi-nuhm, HOM-uh-nuhm)) <http://wordsmith.org/words/ad_hominem.mp3>
MEANING:
/adverb, adjective:/
1. Appealing to one's prejudices, emotions, or other personal
considerations rather than to intellect or reason.
2. Attacking an opponent personally instead of answering the argument.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin, literally "to the person".
