← Back to context

Comment by croes

7 hours ago

You live under the wrong impression that ad hominem is always bad.

Ad hominem is allowed under certain circumstances, just remember Epstein.

Would you have bought anything from him and dismissed any critique of that as ad hominem?

2 comments

croes

Reply
lynndotpy  7 hours ago

Also worth pointing out that it is not an ad hominen.

Ad hominen is when you attack someone who is making an argument, instead of an argument. "You are flawed, which means your argument is flawed", but that does not follow. If you were in a debate with Epstein or Musk, and he said "2 + 2 = 4", there is no fault of their character that could make the statement untrue.

But nobody is making that argument. "The leadership" being criticized is not even a participant in this thread (presumably). "The leadership is flawed in this manner" is a statement that can be true or untrue, and "So their product and followers are flawed in these other manners" is something which can follow.