The Lagoon TechMy little blog in Cyberspace.

Let’s first get a definition of “ad hominem”.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “ad hominem” as: marked by or being an attack on an opponent’s character rather than by an answer to the contentions made

This logical fallacy is when someone directs their argument at the person who gave the information, instead of the person’s position in the argument.

For example, Martin tells Kyle he thinks sports cars do not have good gas mileage, and people are better off not buying them. Kyle responds with calling Martin an idiot and tells him he is wrong.

You see what happened? Kyle did not give any countering information to show Martin being incorrect. Instead Kyle disrespected Martin while making himself look silly. Kyle should have not said anything, since he really didn’t anyway.

Summary: “ad hominem” arguments are nothing more than personally attacking someone, instead of attacking their position in an argument. When someone commits this logical fallacy, it is a good sign they have no real argument to give.