From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Tue Nov 27 2001 - 15:22:55 MST
Lee Daniel Crocker wrote,
> > An ad hominem for all seasons.;)
>
> Attacking a _profession_ is fair game, because people choose their
> professions, and are therefore rightly judged by those choices.
> A medical ethicist is someone who has willfully chosen as a profession
> to increase death and suffering in the world.
But let's be clear: The example above is NOT ad hominem. It does not try
to define a person as invalid, but defines a profession or choice as
invalid. Confusing these issues belies a misunderstanding about what ad
hominem is. Ad hominem is a logic flaw. Just as an arithmetic error can
never be allowed in any calculations, ad hominem must not be allowed in any
logical deduction. It is not banned because of any politically correct
theory or from a desire to not hurt someone's feelings or to reduce list
traffic. It is banned because it is invalid and will not work.
-- Harvey Newstrom <www.HarveyNewstrom.com> Principal Security Consultant, Newstaff Inc. <www.Newstaff.com> Board of Directors, Extropy Institute <www.Extropy.org> Cofounder, Pro-Act <www.ProgressAction.org>
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