Ad hominem

A Latin phrase that has come to mean attacking one's opponent, as opposed to attacking their arguments.

Attacking the Person is a form of distraction, forcing them into defending themself and away from their argument. Most people, when personally attacked, respond with a fight-or-flight reaction and so either jump to their own defense or cognitively flee (and in doing so, drop any argument they are making).

Attacking people in public frames you as an aggressive person who attacks those who oppose you. Other people there will consequently be less likely to attack you or use strong arguments against you, for fear of being attacked by you, hence strengthening your power position.

A sub-division: Abusive Ad Hominem is where the person is attacked and discredited. Circumstantial Ad Hominem occurs where an excuse is made for the person which negates their argument due to some special circumstances, such as the role they have.

Ad hominem (Latin for 'to the person'), short for argumentum ad hominem, refers to several types of arguments that are fallacious. Often nowadays this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some other attribute of the person making an argument rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself.

This avoids genuine debate by creating a personal attack as a diversion often using a totally irrelevant, but often highly charged attribute of the opponent's character or background. The most common form of this fallacy is "A" makes a claim of "fact," to which "B" asserts that "A" has a personal trait, quality or physical attribute that is repugnant thereby going entirely off-topic, and hence "B" concludes that "A" has their "fact" wrong - without ever addressing the point of the debate.

Many contemporary politicians routinely use ad hominem attacks, which can be encapsulated to a derogatory nickname for a political opponent.

Other uses of the term ad hominem are more traditional, referring to arguments tailored to fit a particular audience, and may be encountered in specialized philosophical usage. These typically refer to the dialectical strategy of using the target's own beliefs and arguments against them, while not agreeing with the validity of those beliefs and arguments.

Ad hominem arguments were first studied in ancient Greece; John Locke revived the examination of ad hominem arguments in the 17th century.