Statement #o113 Discussion
0 comments All Discussions | 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. |


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. ![]() |
1,187 Total Answer Attempts 68%
802 Correctly Popped Fallacies
385 Incorrectly Un/Popped


Most Common Responses48 - Ad Hominem 36 - Appeal to Ridicule 35 - Ad Hominem Tu Quoque 34 - Circumstantial Ad Hominem 25 - Biased Generalization 23 - Poisoning the Well 21 - Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief 18 - Genetic Fallacy 16 - Appeal to Spite 15 - Guilt by Association 14 - Red Herring 13 - Appeal to Belief 10 - Special Pleading 7 - Hasty Generalization 6 - Relativist Fallacy 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 |
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