Statement #241 Discussion

Below is the statement as it appears with the fallacy marked as correct. You can see the totals of most frequent responses to this statement. And after reading the any discussion going on below, you can select your choice(s) for the correct answer. For now, whoever posts each statement can update corrections.

You can't believe Jane, she's an idiot!

Ad Hominem
AKA Ad Hominem Abusive, Personal Attack
Category: Fallacies of Relevance (Red Herrings) → Ad hominems (Genetic Fallacies)

Translated from Latin to English, "ad Hominem" means "against the man" or "against the person."

An ad Hominem is a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument. Typically, this fallacy involves two steps. First, an attack against the character of person making the claim, her circumstances, or her actions is made (or the character, circumstances, or actions of the person reporting the claim). Second, this 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:

Person A makes claim X.
Person B makes an attack on person A.
Therefore A's claim is false.

The reason why an ad Hominem (of any kind) is a fallacy is that the character, circumstances, or actions of a person do not (in most cases) have a bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim being made (or the quality of the argument being made).

Ad Hominem

213 Total Answer Attempts 66%
140 Correctly Popped Fallacies
73 Incorrectly Un/Popped

Most Common Responses

140 - Ad Hominem
17 - Personal Attack
10 - Appeal to Ridicule
5 - Misleading Vividness
4 - Appeal to Spite
3 - Guilt by Association
3 - Poisoning the Well
3 - Peer Pressure
3 - Appeal to Pity
2 - Hasty Generalization
2 - Middle Ground
2 - Circumstantial Ad Hominem
2 - Biased Generalization
2 - Special Pleading
2 - Fallacy of Composition
1 - Slippery Slope
1 - Confusing Cause and Effect
1 - Appeal to Tradition
1 - Appeal to Flattery
1 - Ignoring a Common Cause
1 - Appeal to Authority
1 - Burden of Proof
1 - Appeal to Belief
1 - False Dilemma
1 - Appeal to Common Practice
1 - Appeal to Emotion
1 - Fallacy of Division
1 - Ad Hominem Tu Quoque

Likes for Correct Answers

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