A fallacy of relevance
Ad hominem is Latin for ‘to the man’ and when used in reference to an argument or piece of reasoning it means that the comment is aimed against a person and not at the position that the argument involves.
Examples…
From the comments section below an article about disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong
He’s not a great athlete; he’s a fraud, a cheat and a liar. That’s why not everybody is “happy for Lance.”
From my post about David Tredinnick
They are also ignorant, because they never study the subject and just say that it is all to do with what appears in the newspapers, which it is not, and they are deeply prejudiced, and racially prejudiced too, which is troubling
From everyday life
You would say that, you’re a teacher
Not every personal attack is part of a reasoned argument so the Ad Hominem fallacy only applies when it is being used to support an argument. If you say something critical about someone but not as part of a formal argument that is not a fallacy – just an insult.
Ad Hominem by Bad Religion
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This song was written by another of my heroes – Greg Graffin. He formed the punk/metal band Bad Religion in 1979 when he was 15 and it is still going strong today (although he is the only original member). The reason he is a hero of mine is that along the way he did a degree in Anthropology and Geology, then did a master’s degree in Geology before completing a PhD in Zoology at Cornell. And as well as being the lead singer of a kick-ass punk band he has also lectured at UCLA on Palaeontology and Cornell University on Evolution. Just for good measure he has written a bunch of books too. He is a polymath – a modern day Leonardo Da Vinci – IMHO!
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