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

1,215 Total Answer Attempts 67%
820 Correctly Popped Fallacies
395 Incorrectly Un/Popped

Example from LaBossiere's Forty Two Fallacies

( Random Image )

Most Common Responses

820 - Personal Attack
49 - Ad Hominem
38 - Appeal to Ridicule
37 - Ad Hominem Tu Quoque
35 - Circumstantial Ad Hominem
25 - Biased Generalization
23 - Poisoning the Well
22 - Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief
19 - Genetic Fallacy
16 - Guilt by Association
16 - Appeal to Spite
14 - Red Herring
13 - Appeal to Belief
10 - Special Pleading
7 - Relativist Fallacy
7 - Hasty Generalization
6 - Peer Pressure
6 - Misleading Vividness
5 - False Dilemma
5 - Ignoring a Common Cause
5 - Fallacy of Division
4 - Burden of Proof
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

Show all on page ↑

0 Threads with 0 Comments

+	Type in your comment here...

Play Game - Fallacy List - Add Statements - Player Collections - Discussions

Login - High Scores - About - Trivium - Links - Contact

Donate To DontFallacy.Me - Support Dr. Labossiere

Creative Commons, 2014, Wiki World Order (Morgan Lesko)

* Fallacious statements are usually paired with a random image of a person who never spoke those words.
This free site is for educational purposes, studying intellectual dishonesty. The images are being used under fair use. Sunflower by robstephaustrali. Cameron & Putin image owned by Kremlin.ru.