Logical fallacies

I ' ve discussed logical fallacies before, but it seems the message doesn ' t get to some people. One of the most common categories of logical fallacy is formally calledargumentum ad hominem,orad hominem for short. There are a couple of recognized forms of this, and a slightly alternative construction calledbulverism. Essentially, the ad hominem fallacy is attacking an argument by making some assertion about its source. Trollish commenters on this blog often make the claim that an argument that supports some liberal position is not to be credited because the person making it is a liberal. Really -- I just got not one buttwo comments making precisely that claim about my quotation from a spokesperson from the Union of Concerned Scientists on the previous post. Since I have a policy against publishing completely idiotic comments, that one did not get through. I know perfectly well that UCS is an advocacy organization dedicated to the accurate application of science to solve social problems. This often puts UCS in opposition to corporate interests and for sure, right now, to conservatives who deny inconvenient scientific truths such as anthropogenic climate change and the health consequences of air pollution. While not every supporter is a scientist, the individual I quoted is indeed one. I am also a real scientist, and I have personally been involved in studies of the health effects of air pollution. The commenter in this case makes what is called thecircumstantial fal...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs