Ad Hominem Arguments

Douglas Walton is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Winnipeg and author of Abductive Reasoning and A Pragmatic Theory of Fallacy.

Walton's own careful categorization and formalization of the various kinds of ad hominem arguments brings clarity to the subject.... Walton's book can be recommended for its plethora of interesting examples, its historically informed discussion, and its useful typology of ad hominem arguments. - The Midwest Quarterly ""Quite accessible to the interested general reader... Walton's books are intelligent, perceptive commentaries on aspects of common argumentative practice.... We see in Walton a hugely impressive example of the necessity of disciplined observation as a necessary condition of a scientifically tenable understanding of the matters at hand.... At the level of 'models of the data,' there is nothing in the literature that surpasses Ad Hominem Arguments. Walton has done us the service of publishing a book that is necessary reading."" - Argumentation