Fallacies

Fallacies

1. Ad hominem is a Latin word that means “against the man.” As the name suggests, it is a literary term that involves commenting on or against an opponent, to undermine him instead of his arguments. As a logical fallacy, it is of four basic types.

   • Abusive: When you abuse a person or use invectives to attack his/her argument, it is abusive ad hominem.
     • Ex: This is why a woman shouldn't do a man's job.
   • Circumstantial: It means when you attack a person’s situation or circumstances that might have motivated the argument.
     • Ex: This car is proven to get great gas mileage. Yeah right! You just want my sale.
   • Guilt by Association: It means to associate the person with something negative.
     • Ex: Pol Pot was evil and against religion. All people against religion are bad.
   • Tu Quoque: It means to evoke the past actions of somebody to attack his argument.
     • Ex: You don't believe that cheating is bad when you cheated on your wife.