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Old 08-08-2011, 01:54 PM   #61 (permalink)
jamesqf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thymeclock View Post
Could you please make your responses about me a bit more ad-hominem?
You might try looking up the definition of the term ad hominem. (I'll even save you the trouble: Ad hominem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) Briefly, an ad hominem argument really isn't directed against a person, but against positions or works associated with or expressed by a person. Thus if I say "Joe is an idiot", that is merely a statement of my opinion (supported by evidence or not, as the case may be). If I say "Joe is a liberal, therefore his opinions on food are worthless", that is an ad hominem attack against Joe's opinions on food - even though many non-liberals may hold the same opinion.

So now, if we look back at prior posts, who uses ad hominem attacks the most? Or maybe I should coin a new term, the argument "ad sinistram", by which the arguer claims that a position can be associated with the left, by whatever tenuous thread of logic, and is therefore false and invalid.