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Alex Hosking

Dismisssing the other person by claiming their motive is nafarious.

I think this seems to be a common trope by calling women "TERFs" for criticizing gender identity acts that could potentially allow someone to speak their way into a women's prison, or calling people " racist " for criticism of religious practices such as the burqa, or even affirmative action.
It's basically " You are "bad thing" therefore I can dismiss you, please shut up" . I'd say it's slightly different to  just saying " you're an idiot therefore I can dismiss you please shut up ".
I'd assume it's a form of Ad hominem, but is it a specific kind of ad hominem.

asked on Sunday, Jan 02, 2022 07:53:20 PM by Alex Hosking

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Shawn writes:

I have actually worked in this area, so I know a little bit of what you are talking about. I think that each case has to be dealt with individually. For example, not all critiques of Islam or Muslims may necessarily be Islamophobic -- some are, some are not. The comment, as well as the person, would have to be examined in their proper context. It is not helpful, however, to simply accuse someone of bad motives and call them names.  As for the term "TERF" -- trans-exclusionary radical feminist -- this is a label placed on someone with a view to silencing them instead of actually listening to what the person is saying. This is, as another person correctly pointed out, an ad hominem attack that does not really address what the person is saying but rather is an accusation of nefarious motives. 

posted on Monday, Jan 03, 2022 07:22:48 AM

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TrappedPrior (RotE)
2

Dismisssing the other person by claiming their motive is [nefarious].

This by itself is ad hominem (circumstantial), but your example seems to be a bit different:

I think this seems to be a common trope by calling women "TERFs" for criticizing gender identity acts that could potentially allow someone to speak their way into a women's prison, or calling people " racist " for criticism of religious practices such as the burqa, or even affirmative action.

That could be considered poisoning the well. The person is asserted to be a bigot because they gave an opinion on something. The suggestion is that what the person wants to say should not be considered, or is unreasonable, because of that.

Bear in mind though, although this tactic is typically used to shut down debate, if accusations of bigotry can be backed up, the other person may have gained a point. Real prejudice and bigotry, after all, are still very real.
answered on Sunday, Jan 02, 2022 11:40:55 PM by TrappedPrior (RotE)

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Kostas Oikonomou
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I think this kind of responding to an argument falls under the identity fallacy . And although I don't find many differences from the identity fallacy, there are also these fallacies that are in Dr. Bo's book
genetic fallacy ,
psychogenetic fallacy ,
bulverism ,
ad hominem (circumstantial) 
answered on Monday, Jan 03, 2022 08:29:18 AM by Kostas Oikonomou

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