At a debate over raising student fees to support the intercollegiate athletics program, a member of the football team argued tha
t the relatively minor fee increase was a small price to pay for the increased recognition and sense of pride that comes with a winning team. Karen responded, " You're a football player, of course you would argue for more money for athletics!" Identify the fallacy of Karen’s response.
An ad hominem fallacy or argumentum ad hominem in full is fallacy that occurs when one attacks the character or circumstances of a person making an argument or statement instead of disproving the truth or the soundness of the statement or argument. This is exemplified in Karen's statement above where she mentions the occupation of the person making an argument instead of disproving his statement as false or truth.
Explanation: The use of invalid justification techniques in establishing basis for an argument is called fallacy. Therfore various types of fallacies can be identified. However, in the context above, Karen's response highlights a fallacy tagged 'Ad Hominem' which is committed when an argument deviates from the topic of discourse and focuses on the personality or motive of the speaker. Karen's response should have been a reply centered on addressing that point raised by the player without bringing the personality or supposed motive into the discussion by expressly alleging that the player's demand or view was borne out of being self-centered.
