Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Senator Dick Black Logical Fallacy
Virginia state Senator Dick Black was under ridicule for a tweet he posted. Dick Black uses the logical fallacy ad hominem. Ad hominem is when you attack your opponent's character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument. The tweet was titled "It's about experience". This tweet was a response to his opponent Jill McCabe after she labeled him a career politician. The tweet was an image of a chart depicting the accomplishments of both candidates. Dick Black's accomplishments were posted on the left including; Senator, Delegate, Accountant, Marine Major, Army Colonel, Home Builder, Herpetologist, Factory Manager, Career Prosecutor, Construction Engineer, Pilot and Flight Instructor, Library Board Member, Father of Three and Grandfather of Fourteen. On the right is Jill McCabe's accomplishments which include Doctor and Mother.
Dick Black is casting doubt on Jill McCabe's character as well as her personal attributes by saying she does not have the experience or the credentials to run in this campaign. Ad hominem assertions help to discredit the opponent rather than their argument. At times the ad hominem method can be very effective in swaying one's personal opinions on a topic.
In order to recognize that ad hominem is coming into play the reader needs to make sure they know both sides of the story. In the conflict between Dick Black and Jill McCabe it would be wise to look up both candidates and understand their background and what they stand for. The more you know about the candidates, the more you can see when they try to distract voters from the real arguments at hand with ad hominem.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/democrats-call-virginia-state-senator-sexist-for-doctormother-tweet/2015/09/25/5fd39d64-63b2-11e5-9757-e49273f05f65_story.html
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My logical fallacy is the same as yours and this is a perfect example to explain how senator Dick Black is being attacked about his tweet.
ReplyDeleteThis to me is very close to an Ad hominem, but I don't know enough about Jill MaCabe to call it one. Maybe list some of her accomplishments, so that we could see this as a downplay of her experience, rather than a really rude argument from Senator Dick Black?
ReplyDeleteMarine major and army colonel? Now that is a varied career path that Black took, but I agree with Giovanni--this is a perfect example of the ad hominem attack, and it's a sexist one to boot. Notice he said "mother" as a way to lessen McCabe's value as a candidate?
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent example of the as hominem fallacy. What's interesting to me about this chart is that his "accomplishments have been graciously selected while McCabe's seem purposefully selected to appear less than. If it is about experience as his tweet says, how can he accurately quantify her life experience? Several qualities from being a doctor and mother could be useful in her political campaign not to mention the fact that she is more than the hats she wears in life and she could have gathered important skills and qualifications to effectively lead that Black could never comprehend.
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