From: InfoPro Consulting: Mark Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Mon May 17 2004 - 04:41:58 BST
Boys, boys, boys...
I feel Platt's misuse of the phrase "ad hominem attack" is my fault.
I brought it up a while back in his dismissal of Noam Chomsky as a
valid source of ideas. He now uses it whenever anyone, usually in
exasperation, says anything slightly negative about his thought
processes.
For the record, if I argue:
Statement X is true
Statement Y is true
Therefore statement Z is true
And you say:
Your are an idiot, therefore Z is false. You have answered my
argument with an ad hominem attack.
On the other hand, if you say:
Statement Y is not true, and here are my reasons for saying so.
Then follow with your reasons, then say "Therefore Z is false".
You have responded without an ad hominem attack. You might then add,
"And, BTW, you are an idiot." Which would be an insult, maybe even
an understandable insult, but would not be an ad hominem response to
my argument.
Now, play nicely.
Best,
Mark Steven Heyman
-- InfoPro Consulting - The Professional Information Processors Custom Software Solutions for Windows, PDAs, and the Web Since 1983 Web Site: http://www.infoproconsulting.com "Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is everything." -- Henri Poincare' MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org Mail Archives: Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/ Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at: http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
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