Someone on here mentioned an ad hominem argument. What does ad hominem mean?

Answer 1

It means that instead of addressing the argument somebody has made, attacking the person who made the argument.

Answer 2

Ad hominem
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin, literally "argument against the person") involves replying to an argument or assertion by attacking the person presenting the argument or assertion rather than the argument itself. It is a logical fallacy.

Answer 3

It's Latin for "against the man".

It's a legalistic dirty trick - a personal attack designed to derail the argument by impugning the opponent's moral values, rather than attacking the opponent's reasoning.

For example:

A: "I think we should spend the club's money now. I want to go on holiday somewhere."

B: "Nah, let's save it. We can transfer it to a savings acccount and accumulate interest. In five years, we'll have enough to do up our clubhouse /and/ maybe buy some more books as well."

A: "You stink. Does B stink? I think B stinks. Let's have a vote. Let's kick B out of the club on the grounds that he stinks," and so on.

That's what an ad hominem attack looks like.

Answer 4

Latin for against the body. Personal attacks instead of debating the points.

Answer 5

The first person who answered is correct. Here's a website that gives some examples: http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/itl/graphics/adhom/adhom.html

Answer 6

1. appealing to one's prejudices, emotions, or special interests rather than to one's intellect or reason.
2. attacking an opponent's character rather than answering his argument.

Answer 7

something the fiscal conservatives made up