[Buddha-l] Accuracy

[Richard Hayes]

On Jun 14, 2010, at 3:22 PM, JKirkpatrick wrote:

> I agree with your point about listening carefully to these
> various reviled folks --wheat from chaffly. However, ad hominem
> arguments and statements are a universal human practice--they
> often include praise (often flattery) as well as opprobrium--so
> probably not limited to this nation nor to Buddhism where

I did not say that fallacy was limited to this nation or to Buddhism. I simply suggested it is a practice that is common in the United States. Arguments based on praising a person and then citing the person as an authority in a field unrelated to the area in which the person has been praised are usually given their own special name: argumentum ad verecundiam. It is a favorite of advertisers and political campaigners. The argument that has the form "the practice is universal, so there must be some validity to it" (which was NOT the argument Joanna was making) is called fallacy of consensus gentium.

Jim Peavler makes a good green chile stew. And he says that learning the names of fallacies is a good way to brush up on one's Latin. So it must be.

Richard