Ad-hominem is a logical fallacy in which a speaker or writer attacks the character, motive, or attribute of the person making an argument rather than addressing the substance of the argument itself. The parameters that define it are: (1) there is an original claim or argument by a target, (2) the responder identifies a negative attribute of the target, (3) the responder treats that attribute as a refutation or disqualification of the original claim. The mechanism of persistence is linguistic and pedagogical — taught in logic curricula, invoked in debate and legal proceedings, and reproduced in everyday discourse as a recognized error pattern. [formal: ad hominem | substrate: mind | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.78]
Accepted ontology entry
ad-hominem
Ad-hominem is a logical fallacy in which a speaker or writer attacks the character, motive, or attribute of the person making an argument rather than addressing the substance of the argument itself. The parameters that define it are: (1) t…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made fallacy: the argumentative tactic of attacking the character, motive, or personal attributes of an opponent rather than addressing their argument. Built to derail reasoning by shifting focus from claims to claimants, it persists through teaching in debate, education, and critical thinking curricula.
Names and aliases
- ad-hominemen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrn2b9bk01v9d1nlws1gj4eaINSTANCE_OF →
Ad-hominem is a specific kind of fallacy — it attacks the person rather than the argument. 'Ad-hominem is a specific kind of fallacy' matches Law 9: INSTANCE_OF = specific→general.
- cmrtrh7ri001jv7fatx3t7olxINSTANCE_OF →
ad-hominem IS a specific kind of logical fallacy — attacking the person making an argument rather than the argument itself. A competent speaker calls it 'a logical fallacy'. Law 9 specific→general. Pinned sense: logical fallacy as a defect in reasoning structure.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 20, 2026, 7:06 PM UTC
- Content hash
- ddaac1f65a058bb52ec0b5c753de27be6dc538af8c7780d98aa658870a8d577e