Ad hominem attacks

Ad hominem attacks are when the person, group, organisation or business making an argument is attacked rather than their argument. An ad hominem attack can use past history, bring up associations with others (a ‘guilty by association’ type of argument) or attack the personality or personal attributes of an individual.

Ad hominem attacks are popular in politics and widespread in media ‘comments’ sections.

How to spot an ad hominem attack

• Look for personal criticism instead of refuting of the argument/issue. Is an individual’s character, behaviour or motives the focus rather than the argument they’ve made?

• Watch for irrelevant insults. Does the response include name-calling, mocking or derogatory language aimed at an individual rather than the issue?

• Are there ‘association’ based attacks? Does the counter argument criticise someone based on their group, affiliation, personal life or associates rather than their argument?

• Does the counter argument bring up unrelated past behaviour or actions to undermine the person’s argument.

Pictured is an example of ‘name calling’ common in ad hominem attacks. The video and transcript can be viewed here. Note that the video discussion also has multiple examples of logical fallacies at play.

The news network apologised for the comment of their guest.