Ad hominem

The fallacy Ad Hominem (, "To the Man") is an argument which attacks people holding a contrary view, rather than attacking their view. Constitutes itself as fallacy because the truth or falsity of a position or statement is independent of the character or circumstantial situation of an individual. It is also known as personal attack, personal abuse, damning the source and abusive fallacy among others. For example
 * C: "I'm a creationist because I find flood geology, irreducible complexity, and specified complexity to be convincing arguments;"
 * E: "But you're not a scientist; your opinions are not valid." He has dismissed opinions on the basis of credentials, without ever addressing the merits of the argument.

Types

 * Ad Hominem abusive - In this fallacy, the second person responds to the first person´s argument by verbally abusing the first person.
 * Ad Hominem circumstantial - In this fallacy, instead of accumulating verbal abuse over his opponent, the respondent attempts to discredit the opponent's argument, alluding to certain circumstances that affect the opponent. Wherefore, the respondent seeks to justify that the opponent was biased to argue this way, thus his argument should not be taken seriously.