Ad Hominem Fallacy
- Attacking the person
- Types
- Tu Quoque
- Abusive
- Circumstantial
- Guilt by Association
Ad hominem:Â This is an attack on the character of a person rather than his or her opinions or arguments.
Green Peace’s strategies aren’t effective because they are all dirty, lazy hippies.
In this example, the author doesn’t even name particular strategies Green Peace has suggested, much less evaluate those strategies on their merits. Instead, the author attacks the characters of the individuals in the group.
Redressing the fallacy
It is important to not let a personal attack fluster you. You are fully justified to state, “I refuse to be treated like this,” and then simply disengage from the conversation. If you choose to stay and continue with the conversation, don’t respond in kind. Keep the focus of the conversation on the argument itself. It sometimes helps to refocus energy on the argument by reframing the underlying issues.