2011-07-04 09:51 | fche blog seriously ad hater hominem
Online debates have encouraged the development of new and exciting methods of argument. The one we
shall discuss today is a clever dodge. It is the use of the pejorative class-designator “hater”.
It is best used preemptively:
Blah blah blah. But haters will hate. They’ll disagree with anything new (or different, or whatever). Blah blah blah blah.
but it is no less effective as a riposte:
Oh yeah? You’re just a hater!
It’s a great little ploy. One who disagrees must do so because of some inherent character flaw that renders them unworthy of engagement. We used to call this form of argument the “ad hominem fallacy”, but “hater error” has a nice, modern ring. And if you don’t like that label, you must be a hater.