Cheryl Schatz

A logical fallacy it certainly is.  I also see it as a “thought-stopper”.  If one charges another with a “name”, one then doesn’t have to think about the points that the person has brought up.  A better way is to respond with a logical answer, respectfully ignoring the things that the person is saying that “appears” to cloud their judgment.  That isn’t being done.  In fact there is no answer to my questions.  I have pointed that out in the past but there are no answers forthcoming.  So it appears to me that the game-plan is to shut down the opposition by calling them a _____ (fill in the blank) and then no further answer is needed.  It is an attack on the man (ad hominem).

So what is the easiest way to shut down the ad hominem?  How do you turn things back to the argument and away from the person?

Thoughts?