An Ad Hominem fallacy is where the arguer uses a personal attack on the arguer, rather than the argument itself, in an attempt to prove an argument is unsound or invalid.(IEP, Dowden) (LaBossiere, 2023, p. 29) These attacks are generally negative traits that have some relationship to the argument and can often be very persuasive to the listener.(LaBossiere, 2023, p. 30)
Example:(IEP)
What she says about Johannes Kepler’s astronomy of the 1600s must be just so much garbage. Do you realize she’s only fifteen years old?
Another example:(LaBossiere, 2023, p. 31)
Bill: “I believe that abortion is morally wrong.”
Dave: “Of course you would say that you’re a priest.”
Bill: “What about the arguments I gave to support my position?”
Dave: “Those don’t count. Like I said, you’re a priest, so you have to say that abortion is wrong. Further, you are just a lackey to the Pope, so I can’t believe what you say.”