Understanding the Principles of Argumentation #3

Daniel Phillips (phillips@arcor.de)
Mon, 16 Sep 2002 18:36:42 +0200


This is the third in my "Understanding the Principles of Argumentation"
series. Rusty has obligingly provided us with a fine example of an "ad
hominem attack":

On Monday 16 September 2002 04:17, Rusty Russell wrote:
> > Don't forget that the Unix way has traditionally been to use the
> > simplest interface that will do the job; if you propose a fat
> > interface you need to prove that the thin one cannot do the job.
>
> Gee, really? You're so clever!
>
> You patronising little shit,

An ad hominem attack is a logical fallacy where the arguer attacks the
person, rather than the issue:

http://home.mcn.net/~montanabw/fallacies.html

-- 
Daniel
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