A phrase applied to an appeal or argument addressed to the principles, interests, or passions of a man.
Ad hominem is from the Latin meaning "to the man." In a theological debate or discussion, it is the act of attacking the person or oppenent rather than debating the issues. [ back
a.k.a.: Attacking the Person C&P page: 175 A persuasion strategy in which the peddler attempts to defend her own position by pointing out the undesirable associations, personal characteristics, or motives of those who do not accept it. The impact of the suggestion that "only bad people disagree with me" is often supplemented with an "all good people agree with me", introducing an appeal to diffuse authority. The big (and overlooked) question is, what has their badness or your goodness got to do with the truth of your position? The big (and overlooked) answer typically is "Nothing."
appealing to personal considerations (rather than to fact or reason); "ad hominem arguments"
a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis
a general category of fallacies in which an argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant claim about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument
a indirect attack like calling people who join cults stupid
a logical fallacy that argues against the truth of a proposition by pointing to an irrelevant personal characteristic of the person making the argument
an argument that "Statement X by Speaker Y is untrue, because Speaker Y is Z
an informal fallacy which suggests that a proposition be denied because of irrelevant circumstances or character of an arguer
a substitute for rational arguments, but we used rational arguments
Also argumentum ad hominem. A motive-based fallacy that rejects a view by irrelevantly drawing attention to something negative about a person who holds it.
attacking your opponent personally rather than her/his argument. Ad hominem is fallacious argumentation.
(Latin) literally “against the man”; a criticism of one’s opponent’s person or character rather than an answer to his argument, methodology, or logic.
Argument that exposes deficiencies in the arguer rather than deficiencies in the proposition under discussion. Thus, a logical fallacy. But often ad hominem argument is appropriate. See Bahnsen, 116ff, 468, 492, Frame, 153.
An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: "argument to the person", "argument against the man") consists of replying to an argument by attacking or appealing to the person making the argument, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument. It is most commonly used to refer specifically to the ad hominem abusive, or argumentum ad personam, which consists of criticizing or personally attacking an argument's proponent in an attempt to discredit that argument.
