Ad hominem is when you make personal attacks on a person arguing with you on a completely different matter, wavering from the original topic of concern. Let's have a closer look at its types with examples.
Literal meaning -
Ad hominem are Latin words, which mean - 'to the man' or 'against the man. During an argument when two people are having a conflict over an issue, and if one person responds by insulting or making personal irrelevant attacks on the opposer, it is known as ad hominem. The comment can be very personal, or an offensive character abuse. This causes abrupt fights giving heat to the argument. The jury if any, can also be affected by ad hominem, as even if it is irrelevant to the topic of argument, it gives rise to a thought to judge the person on the basis of that comment. Hence, resulting in a biased decision. Also, this makes the victim furious and provokes him to speak ill, making his chances to win the case fall from a stagnant point to a level below zero. Let's go through few examples to get a better understanding of ad hominem.
Can ad hominem be considered a fallacy? Yes, definitely. Ad hominem of any kind is a fallacy, because it causes personal harm to people when there is no need of it. A common example we all might have experienced at some point of time - Two friends are fighting over something, and you try to interfere to solve their problem. You support the friend who you think is talking sense, but the other immediately comments on you, that you would obviously support your other friend because you've always been more close to him, or you always think she's (the person attacking you personally) wrong. Here, wavering from the main problem, this topic now takes a very different turn. It all comes down to you now, because you support only one of them or the wrong person simply wouldn't agree upon anything you say, since she has already called you biased. Reasons can be, maybe she knew she was wrong, but still in an effort to prove herself right she puts the blame on you and tries changing the topic, or maybe you really are closer to the friend who is correct, but right now you totally support what you feel is really correct. In such situations the unnecessary accusations may be false or true, but it still would be considered a fallacy because it's irrelevant to the topic. Types of ad hominem Abusive ad hominem - This would include verbal personal attacks on the character of the person, in an argument that has nothing to do with the person's traits, making it a logical fallacy. If verbal abuse is done when not in an argument, it will not be considered as ad hominem. examples:
Tu quoque - Tu quoque is also Latin, literally meaning "You also". In this type when A criticizes B, of something he himself (A) had done in the past, and if B knows about it, it gives him a perfect chance to accuse him back and hence prove him wrong. In such a case, B wouldn't listen to A, thinking A is just a hypocrite. Where this case of hypocrisy might really be true, but there are chances of an honest advice or suggestion from stopping the other to do something wrong that the adviser has already done. This is considered a fallacy, because whatever the counter-accusation proves, it still doesn't prove if the person at fault is right or wrong and is irrelevant to the case. examples: In response to a criticism - A criticizes B for taking drugs and tells him of the dire consequences, but B knows that A has been or is still an addict of it and points it out in the argument. This is tu quoque. But here, A might be giving B an advice from his own experiences. In response to support - A - "Isn't it cleaner and fresher in this area?" B - "Yea sure it is, so, why don't you just settle here!" This is when, you support a claim, but don't really like it so much. Circumstantial - Circumstantial ad hominem is when a person is personally attacked on the basis of his circumstances or position or whom he is related to. examples:
examples:
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