Ad hominem arguments try to discredit a claim or proposal by attacking its proponents instead of providing a reasoned examination of the proposal itself. Hence, "ad hominem" literally means "against the person." Ad hominem arguments come in at least five varieties, viz., abusive, guilt by association, tu quoque, vested interest and circumstantial arguments. In this paper I shall analyse the five different ad hominem arguments and argue that although the majority of ad hominem arguments are fallacious there are cases where it is justified and not fallacious. And, accordingly I shall argue…
