← Glossary
Logic
Ad Hominem
A fallacy of attacking the person making the argument rather than the argument itself.
Latin for 'to the person.' An ad hominem fallacy occurs when someone responds to an argument by attacking the character, motives, or circumstances of the person presenting it, rather than engaging with the argument's content.
**Example:** 'You can't trust his argument for theism — he was raised in a religious household.'
The speaker's background is irrelevant to whether their argument is logically valid.