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<DIV><BR><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>"Isn't it amazing that by and
large women like and understand Shirley MacLaine whereas men are critical of her
and sometimes express almost hatred for her? Doesn't that tell you
anything?"</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>The above quote from a recent posting provides a sterling example of a
logical fallacy: ad hominem. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.datanation.com/fallacies/">http://www.datanation.com/fallacies/</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I include a quote from the above URL: <STRONG>Definition:</STRONG>
<UL>The person presenting an argument is attacked instead of the<BR>argument
itself. This takes many forms. For example, the<BR>person's character,
nationality or religion may be attacked.<BR>Alternatively, it may be pointed
out that a person stands to<BR>gain from a favourable outcome. Or, finally, a
person may be<BR>attacked by association, or by the company he keeps.
<P>There are three major forms of Attacking the Person:<BR>(1) ad hominem
(abusive): instead of attacking an assertion,<BR>the argument attacks the
person who made the assertion.<BR>(2) ad hominem (circumstantial): instead of
attacking an<BR>assertion the author points to the relationship between
the<BR>person making the assertion and the person's circumstances.<BR>(3) ad
hominem (tu quoque): this form of attack on the<BR>person notes that a person
does not practise what he<BR>preaches.</P>
<P>The authoress of the cited passage from the Newsgroup assumes that any
comments critical of SM's assertions classify the male as a
misogynist. Please read my posting prior to this and note that almost
all my mentors have been female: Ayn Rand, intellectual; Betty Friedan,
inter-sexual; Rachel Carson, environmental. Paul Ehrlich in regard
to over-population is one of the few exceptions. Invariably it appears
more facile to think in generalities than to labor with specifics: "by
and large." Felipe Sanchez <BR></P></UL></DIV>
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