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Single Idea 6696

[filed under theme 2. Reason / F. Fallacies / 7. Ad Hominem ]

Full Idea

The Ad Hominem Fallacy is to criticise the person proposing an argument rather than the argument itself, as when you say "You would say that", or "Your behaviour contradicts what you just said".

Clarification

'Ad Hominem' is Latin for 'against the man'

Gist of Idea

The Ad Hominem Fallacy criticises the speaker rather than the argument

Source

PG (Db (ideas) [2031])

A Reaction

Nietzsche is very keen on ad hominem arguments, and cheerfully insults great philosophers, but then he doesn't believe there is such a thing as 'pure argument', and he is a relativist.

The 16 ideas from 'Db (ideas)'

4465 Note that "is" can assert existence, or predication, or identity, or classification [PG]
7415 Question-begging assumes the proposition which is being challenged [PG]
4686 Fallacies are errors in reasoning, 'formal' if a clear rule is breached, and 'informal' if more general [PG]
7414 What is true of a set is also true of its members [PG]
6696 The Ad Hominem Fallacy criticises the speaker rather than the argument [PG]
4687 Minimal theories of truth avoid ontological commitment to such things as 'facts' or 'reality' [PG]
6516 Monty Hall Dilemma: do you abandon your preference after Monty eliminates one of the rivals? [PG]
24054 Everything has a probability, something will happen, and probabilities add up [PG]
3875 If reality is just what we perceive, we would have no need for a sixth sense [PG]
3876 If my team is losing 3-1, I have synthetic a priori knowledge that they need two goals for a draw [PG]
7734 Maybe a mollusc's brain events for pain ARE of the same type (broadly) as a human's [PG]
7735 Maybe a frog's brain events for fear are functionally like ours, but not phenomenally [PG]
3877 Utilitarianism seems to justify the discreet murder of unhappy people [PG]
3874 How could God know there wasn't an unknown force controlling his 'free' will? [PG]
6126 Life is Movement, Respiration, Sensation, Nutrition, Excretion, Reproduction, Growth (MRS NERG) [PG]
3873 An omniscient being couldn't know it was omniscient, as that requires information from beyond its scope of knowledge [PG]