Ad Hominem's Argument Analysis

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So, it is a normal day where two individuals, (Bill and Sam) are having a conversation over lunch. Bill complains Sam about how the weather has been abnormally cold lately. Sam follows this comment by saying, “Yeah, I know, and these liberals have been harping about global warming, yet it’s been snowing all over!” Bill thinks that Sam’s argument is logical and he agrees with him to switch the subject. However, what Sam just committed is a logical fallacy, additionally Bill was swayed into believing this falsehood. Nowhere in Sam’s argument did he have empirical evidence to make such a conclusion about global warming. Many people, past and present, have committed such errors daily, and most others may receive the information as factual based upon the false logic presented through personal experience or other methods. First to understand what a fallacy is, it is imperative to comprehend what an argument is. In a few words, an argument consists of a premise (one or more) and a conclusion. A premise is a statement that is either true or false, and is made in support of the claim being made, which is the conclusion. There are two common types of arguments: inductive and deductive. An inductive argument is an argument that the premise gives less than complete …show more content…

Ad hominem is an attack on the character of a person rather than their opinions or arguments. There are many examples that have been given in the recent years of President Obama’s administration. A generalized example would be: “President Obama’s strategies aren’t effective because he is a Socialist.” In this example, there are actually two types of fallacies: Ad hominem and ecological. It is first and foremost an attack on the President’s character, however, it attempts to group him with Socialists. The statement does not describe the President’s strategies, only that they are ineffective. There is no truth behind the statement, nor does it possess physical

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