Is this an example of an “ad hominem” argument? Is it legitimate?
Bill: My amazing new medical breakthrough, explained in detail on my web page, will cure cancer!
Joe: Bill is a known liar and con artist who has no special expertise in medicine. His so-called breakthrough is almost certainly worthless, and I’m not going to waste my time reading his page and writing a rebuttal.
To quote the page:
There is a false premise that lies behind all ad hominem arguments: the notion that all people of type X make bad arguments.
Probabilistically speaking, we only need to know that people of type X are more likely to make good-seeming bad arguments than average, to reduce our support of their arguments. We went over this once before.
Is this an example of an “ad hominem” argument? Is it legitimate?
Bill: My amazing new medical breakthrough, explained in detail on my web page, will cure cancer! Joe: Bill is a known liar and con artist who has no special expertise in medicine. His so-called breakthrough is almost certainly worthless, and I’m not going to waste my time reading his page and writing a rebuttal.
To quote the page:
Probabilistically speaking, we only need to know that people of type X are more likely to make good-seeming bad arguments than average, to reduce our support of their arguments. We went over this once before.