Explain the term Ad hominem

Short Answer: The phrase ad hominem is a Latin word, when translated into English it mean s “against the person”. It is a general category of fallacies in which acclaim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of the argument or the person presenting the argument.

Long Answer:

The phrase ad hominem is a Latin word, when translated into English it mean s “against the person”. It is a general category of fallacies in which acclaim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of the argument or the person presenting the argument.

In this type of fallacy firstly, the person making a claim is attacked and then the attack is taken to be evidence against the claim or argument the person in question is making or presenting. This type of argument has the following form. 

1. Person A makes a claim X

2. Person B makes an attack on person A 

3. Therefore A’s claim is false. 

Example: “How can you believe the theory of relativity- Einstein could not comb his hair?” 

Ad hominem involves the use of psychological powers of persuasion by diverting attention away from the objective truth and instead denigrating the character of the person making the claim. Here are some examples: 

You are so stupid your argument couldn't possibly be true. 

Why should we believe in Francis bacon’s philosophy since he was removed from chancellorship for dishonesty? 

We can see that in the above cases, the reason to reject someone’s statement or position is based on irrelevant information. It is more of a personal attack than an argument. 

Another form of Ad hominem involves the use of circumstances of person’s life to reject his claims. 

Example: You are a priest, so you will have to say that abortion is wrong. Further, you are just a lackey to the Pope. 

So from the above examples we may conclude that all fallacies of Ad Hominem (against the person) rest on the same kind of reasoning error: the rejection of statement or inference because of criticism of a person’s character or circumstances.