I think “ad hominem” reasoning makes a great deal more sense when you’re dealing with someone citing alleged facts not readily verified. It makes a lot less sense when you’re dealing with moral arguments, steps of reasoning from facts already known, etc. Then you want to just say—“If my opponent is flawed, let me prove it by finding the specific flaws in the argument.”
No, it’s not like this in theory, but the practice makes a good deal of sense. I had to give someone this advice just recently. It’s extremely important to folks like us who’ve learned a large catalog of flaws that other people can potentially have.
I think “ad hominem” reasoning makes a great deal more sense when you’re dealing with someone citing alleged facts not readily verified. It makes a lot less sense when you’re dealing with moral arguments, steps of reasoning from facts already known, etc. Then you want to just say—“If my opponent is flawed, let me prove it by finding the specific flaws in the argument.”
No, it’s not like this in theory, but the practice makes a good deal of sense. I had to give someone this advice just recently. It’s extremely important to folks like us who’ve learned a large catalog of flaws that other people can potentially have.