3 0 9
A d H o m i n e m A r g u m e n t s
areincorrectorunfounded.Adhominemfallaciesveryoftendealinsuch
irrelevantpersonalcharacteristics.Theyareoftenintroducedjusttodistract
usfromtherealpointatissue.
Inrareandunusualcases,however,aspeaker ’scharacterorposition
isareasontodoubtthetruthofwhathesays.SupposethatLucyissus-
pectedofcommittingmurder,butLouietestifiesthathewaswithher
atthetimeofthemurder.ThentheprosecutionshowsthatLouiepro-
videdasimilaralibiforanaccusedmurdererattentrialsinthepastyear,
andeverytimehewasfoundtohaveliedinexchangeformoney.Louie
nevertestifieswithoutbeingpaid,hesayswhateverheispaidtosay,and
peopledonothirehimiftheyhaveanybetterdefense.Thisbackground
aboutLouieprovidessomereasontobelievethatwhatLouiesaidwas
false—thathewasnotwithLucyatthetimeofthemurder.Lucystill
mightnothavecommittedthemurder,butwecan’ttakeLouie’swordfor
it.Adhominemargumentslikethiscanbecalleddeniers,sincetheydeny
thetruthofwhatissaidorthestrengthorsoundnessofanargument.
Althoughmostadhominemdeniersarefallacious,thecaseofLouie
showsthatafewarenot.
Adifferentkindofadhominemargumentquestionsaperson’srightto
makeaclaimorpresentanargument.Imaginethatthelegislatureisdebat-
ingtaxrates.Duringonesession,Tadstandsupandarguesforareduc-
tionintaxes.Tadcanbecriticizedifheisnotalegislator,becausethenhe
lacksthestatusthatconferstherighttospeakinthissetting.Evenoutsideof
anyformalinstitution,ifaneighbortellssomeonethatsheoughttotakeher
childrentoacertainchurch,themothermightrespond,“Mindyourown
business,youbusybody.”Responseslikethiscanbecalledsilencers,because
theyrevoketherighttospeakwithoutnecessarilydenyingthetruthofwhat
issaid.
Athirdvarietyofadhominemargumentismoresubtle.Considerthe
followingexchange:
Norm:Thecoldwarisover,andbadrelationsbetweenCubaandtheUnited
Stateshurtbothcountries,soitistimefortheUnitedStatestodevelopnormal
relationswithCuba.
Cliff:Yeah,soyoucanmakeabundleimportingcigarsfromthosecommies.
Cliff’sreplyisnotanattackonthetruthofwhatNormsaid.NorisCliff
denyingthatNormhasarighttospeak.YetCliff’sremarkisnotwithout
somerelevance—itisnotoffthewall.CliffisquestioningNorm’smotives.
HesuggeststhatNormsayswhathesaysnotbecauseNormbelievesitbut
onlybecauseNormwillmakealotofmoneyifenoughotherpeoplebelieve
it.Inaconversationalexchange,werelyontheintegrityofthepersonwhois
speaking,andwhenwehavereasonstobelievethattheperson’sintegrityis
questionable,wesometimessayso.ThisisthesignificanceofCliff’sremark.
CliffpointstoafactthatgivesussomereasonnottotrustNorm’sintegrity
inadiscussionofU.S.relationswithCuba.
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