Statement #o113 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.

"Jane says that drug use is morally wrong, but she is just a goody-two shoes Christian, so we don't have to listen to her."

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

A personal attack is committed when a person substitutes abusive remarks for evidence when attacking another person's claim or claims. This line of "reasoning" is fallacious because the attack is directed at the person making the claim and not the claim itself. The truth value of a claim is independent of the person making the claim. After all, no matter how repugnant an individual might be, he or she can still make true claims.

Not all ad Hominems are fallacious. In some cases, an individual's characteristics can have a bearing on the question of the veracity of her claims. For example, if someone is shown to be a pathological liar, then what he says can be considered to be unreliable.

However, such attacks are weak, since even pathological liars might speak the truth on occasion. In general, it is best to focus one’s attention on the content of the claim and not on who made the claim. It is the content that determines the truth of the claim and not the characteristics of the person making the claim.

Personal Attack

1,138 Total Answer Attempts 68%
771 Correctly Popped Fallacies
367 Incorrectly Un/Popped

Example from LaBossiere's Forty Two Fallacies

( Random Image )

Most Common Responses

771 - Personal Attack
45 - Ad Hominem
34 - Ad Hominem Tu Quoque
34 - Appeal to Ridicule
33 - Circumstantial Ad Hominem
24 - Biased Generalization
21 - Poisoning the Well
19 - Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief
17 - Genetic Fallacy
15 - Appeal to Spite
14 - Red Herring
14 - Guilt by Association
13 - Appeal to Belief
10 - Special Pleading
6 - Peer Pressure
6 - Misleading Vividness
6 - Hasty Generalization
5 - Relativist Fallacy
5 - Ignoring a Common Cause
5 - Fallacy of Division
4 - Burden of Proof
4 - False Dilemma
4 - Fallacy of Composition
3 - Appeal to Popularity
3 - Post Hoc
3 - Begging the Question
3 - Slippery Slope
2 - Confusing Cause and Effect
2 - Gambler's Fallacy
2 - Appeal to Novelty
2 - Appeal to Fear
2 - Appeal to Pity
2 - Appeal to Emotion
2 - Middle Ground
2 - Appeal to Common Practice
1 - Appeal to Authority

Likes for Correct Answers

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* Fallacious statements are usually paired with a random image of a person who never spoke those words.
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