Ad Hominem

What is Ad Hominem argument?

Ad hominem argument attacks the person instead of addressing their argument.

Example

"You are a Malay. Of course you'd think that the Chinese are not patriotic."

This is an ad hominem point because the person dismisses the viewpoint by pointing to the speaker’s ethnic identity, rather than examining whether the argument about patriotism is logically or factually valid. The assumption is that because of who the person is, their opinion must be biased and therefore invalid.