(“Vegetarianism is a healthy option for dieters.” “Never! You know, Hitler was a vegetarian!”) Because almost no one wants to be associated with fascists (or other similarly hated groups, like cannibals or terrorists), the author now faces the task of defending himself against the negative association instead of pursuing the argument. To counter an argument, either the arguer or a part of the argument itself is associated with Hitler or the Nazis. Guilt by Association-This red herring fallacy works by associating the author of an argument with a group or belief so abhorrent and inflammatory in the minds of the audience that everyone, author and audience alike, is chasing squirrels up trees-that is, they are occupied by the tainted association to the reviled group-instead of dealing with the merits of the original argument.Įxample: the argumentum ad Nazium, or playing the Hitler card.Furthermore, if that woman makes an argument, she can be ignored and her argument weakened because of the perception that it is rooted in emotion, not reason. Thus, by the time the argument is made, it often sounds weak and defensive, and the person making the argument may already be suspect in the minds of the audience.Įxample: If a speaker calls out a woman for being overly emotional or hysterical, any heightened feeling-even a raised voice-may be attributed to her inability to control emotion. Poisoning the Well-This is a type of ad hominem attack that attempts to damage the character of an opponent before that person even introduces an argument.This claim does not consider two important issues: (1) People do not base every decision they make on their race, and (2) there may have been other perfectly logical reasons to support the Latino job applicant that had nothing to do with race. This statement fails the logic test because it only takes a personal characteristic into account–race–when making this claim. In ad hominem attacks of circumstance, the debater implies that his opponent only makes an argument because of a personal connection to it instead of the quality and support of the argument itself, which should be considered independent of any personal connection.Įxample: “You only support the Latino for this job because you’re a Latino.” Attacks of abuse distract the audience as well as the speaker or writer because he will believe it necessary to defend himself from the abuse rather than strengthen his argument.Įxamples: These can include attacks on the body, intelligence, voice, dress, family, and personal choices and tastes.įigure 3.13 “Student vs. There are two main types of ad hominem attack: abuse and circumstance:Īd hominem attacks of abuse are personal (often ruthlessly so), meant to insult and demean. Ad hominem attacks distract from an argument by focusing on the one making the argument, trying to damage his or her credibility.
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