{"id":5283,"date":"2017-07-12T15:19:44","date_gmt":"2017-07-12T20:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/?p=5283"},"modified":"2017-07-12T15:19:44","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T20:19:44","slug":"another-problem-with-ad-hominem-argument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/?p=5283","title":{"rendered":"Another problem with ad hominem argument"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve posted<\/a> a few times here at NS about how to think of various functions of ad hominem <\/em>abusive argument, how to see them as in the service of airing greivances, expressing exasperation, or even sometimes as being relevant.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And then there are non-argumentative versions of abuse — that it’s just there for the sake of making the exchange unpleasant. (And thereby, upping the costs for critical dialogue, and consequently, providing motivation to avoid argument in the future.)<\/p>\n

President Trump has been the target for a number of abuses for his\u00c2\u00a0 purportedly small hands and his hair.<\/p>\n

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And there are the Mitch McConnell is a turtle<\/em> memes.<\/p>\n

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Oh! And Ann Coulter is ugly memes, too.<\/p>\n

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It’s a little fun, for sure.\u00c2\u00a0 But then there are the Hillary is ugly\/shrill\/horrible<\/em> line of thought, which (given my political bent) seems objectionable.<\/p>\n

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As John noted, sometimes, our communicative-argumentative exchanges are less in the service of inquiry, but for the sake of airing of the grievances<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 But they can have a chilling effect on speech, and I think that taking too much pleasure in them (and spending a great deal of time thinking about them and making them) is bad for us.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like spending too much time fantasizing about giving people you hate some comeuppance, or focusing on what a terrible person someone is.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s natural, but impedes solving the problem or getting on with the rest of your life.<\/p>\n

Now there is the focus on the appearance of Rob Goldstone, the Trump contact and publicist who made the introduction between Trump Jr. and Natalia Veselnitskaya. He’s a heafy guy.\u00c2\u00a0 Huffington Post’s<\/a> hook for the story is titled, “From Russia with Schlub.”<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 They lead with the fact that Goldstone declared himself “in a serious relationship with bread.”\u00c2\u00a0 NYT’s story<\/a> is that Goldstone “Likes silly hats and Facebook.”<\/p>\n

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Why does everyone involved with Trump look like a scene-stealer in a Coen brothers movie? pic.twitter.com\/BOoJx0DOL4<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jason Sinclair (@jlsinc) July 11, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n