RE: Name Calling vs. Ad Hominem

From: Keith Elis (hagbard@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Wed May 07 2003 - 11:15:34 MDT

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    > At 08:04 AM 5/7/03 -0400, gts wrote:
    > >If
    > >I spit on the sidewalk and some passerby sees me and calls me a bum
    > >then he is making an implied ad hominem argument

    'Ad hominem' is the term given to one of two kinds of fallacious
    *objections* to an argument. X is false because Y, where Y is one or
    more facts about the person asserting X. Or, X is false because Y, where
    Y is one more facts about the circumstances of the person asserting X.
    There is no such thing as a positive ad hominem assertion except as it
    is an objection to some other assertion.

    Keith

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