Ad Hominem

FALLACIES
ad hominem (“to the man”)
 The fallacy of appeal to the person is rejecting a

claim by criticizing the person who makes t rather
than the claim itself.
 It attempts to discredit a claim by appealing to

something that’s almost always irrelevant to it: a
person’s character, motives, or personal
circumstances.
 We should reject Chen’s argument for life on the other
planets. He dabbles in the paranormal.
 Jones has argued for a ban on government-sanctioned
prayer in schools and at school-sponsored events. But
he’s a rabid atheist without morals of any kind. Anything
he has to say on the issue is bound to be a perversion of
the truth.
VARIETIES OF APPEAL TO THE
PERSON
 Personal attack – consisting of insults
Reject X’s claims, ideas, or theories because X is a radical,

reactionary, extremist, fool, bonehead, moron, nutbar, or
scum of the earth.
Whatever psychological impact such terms of abuse may

have, logically they carry no weight at all.
 Emphasizes not a person’s character but his or her
circumstances.
 Someone making a claim is accused of inconsistency
Marison says she is opposed to abortion, but you can’t take her
seriously. Her view goes against everything her party stands for.
These arguments are fallacious if they’re implying that a claim

must be true (or false) just because it’s consistent with some
aspect of the claimant’s circumstances. The circumstances are
irrelevant to the truth of the claim.
tu quoque (“you’re another”) (“look who’s talking)
Ellen claims that X, but Ellen doesn’t practice/live

by/condone X herself – so X is false.
A lot of Hollywood stars tell us that we shouldn’t drive

SUV’s because the cars use too much gas and are bad
for the environment. But they drive SUVs themselves.
What hypocrites! I think we can safely reject their stupid
pronouncements.
 "The tu quoque fallacy occurs when one charges another
with hypocrisy or inconsistency in order to avoid taking the
other's position seriously. For example:
Mother: You should stop smoking. It's harmful to your health.
Daughter: Why should I listen to you? You started smoking
when you were 16!
 In this example, the daughter commits the tu quoque fallacy.
She dismisses her mother's argument because she believes
her mother is speaking in a hypocritical manner. While the
mother may indeed be inconsistent, this does not invalidate
her argument.“
 (Jacob E. Van Vleet, Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide. University
Press of America, 2011)
 “Poisoning the well”, discrediting, smear tactic
 Discredit the other person before they speak. Or discredit the topic
or argument that they may support.
 There are many ways of discrediting the person. Call them names.
Talk about their lies. Show them to be unworthy. Tell how they are
unintelligent, crazy or otherwise undesirable, inferior and not worth
listening to, let alone believing.
 To discredit the topic or argument, indicate how it is patently

absurd, proven to be false or that only fools would support it.
 CITY COUNCILMAN: The Mayor's a very good talker. Yes,
talk he can do . . . and do very well. But when it comes
time for action, that's a different matter.
 How can the mayor respond? If he remains silent, he runs
the risk of appearing to accept the councilman's
criticisms. But if he stands up and defends himself, then he
is talking; and the more he talks, the more he appears to
be confirming the accusations. The well has been
poisoned, and the mayor is in a difficult position."
(Robert J. Gula, Nonsense. Axios, 2007)
Circular argument/begging the
question
 The attempt to establish the conclusion of an argument
by using the conclusion of an argument by using that
conclusion as a premise. To beg the question is to argue
that a proposition is true because the very same
proposition supports it.
The Bible says that God exists,
The Bible is true because God wrote it.
Therefore, God exists.
“I have a right to say what I want, therefore you
shouldn’t try to silence me”
“Women have a right to choose whether to

have an abortion or not, therefore abortion
should be allowed”
“The unborn has a right to life, therefore abortion

is immoral”.

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FALLACIES

ad hominem (“to the man”)

 The fallacy of appeal to the person is rejecting a

 It attempts to discredit a claim by appealing to

Reject X’s claims, ideas, or theories because X is a radical,

Whatever psychological impact such terms of abuse may

These arguments are fallacious if they’re implying that a claim

Ellen claims that X, but Ellen doesn’t practice/live

A lot of Hollywood stars tell us that we shouldn’t drive

 To discredit the topic or argument, indicate how it is patently

“Women have a right to choose whether to

“The unborn has a right to life, therefore abortion

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