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Correct me if I'm wrong here, but saying that a senator would vote for a senate pay raise because they're a senator is not an ad hominem attack. This argument i
by danielrm26 19y ago
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but saying that a senator would vote for a senate pay raise because they're a senator is not an ad hominem attack. This argument is saying that there's a conflict of interest regarding what they're requesting; that's not a personal attack that has nothing to do with the argument, which is what an ad hominem attack is.
- astine 19y agoIt's an ad hominem attack if you are attempting to refute an argument they made for the pay raise. For example, if a senator gave a speech detailing why senators needed more money and someone dismissed the arguments based on the senator's sentatorness rather the quality of the argument's themselves. Also, an ad hominem is not merely a 'personal attack.' For example, an insult is not an ad hominem. An ad hominem is an attempt to discredit an argument based on qualities of the arguer instead of the argument itself. Pointing out a conflict of interest is an ad hominem attack if you are using it to discredit an argument.
- posborne 19y agoI think that the argument given could definitely be considered ad hominem, but as I read it definitely stuck out that a better examples of ad hominem could have been given (that has much less to do with the subject matter at hand). For instance: "Why should we give creedence to his position on the origin of the universe? He has been divorced twice and is cheating on his current wife... Surely we can't trust what he has to say." Here the argument is attack by attacking the person. The attack on the person has no direct translation to the dispute at hand.