Strategies of Character Attack.

Why are personal attacks so powerful? In political debates, speeches, discussions and campaigns, negative character judgments, aggressive charges and charged epithets are used for different purposes. They can block the dialogue, trigger value judgments and influence decisions; they can force the int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Argumentation Vol. 27; no. 4; pp. 369 - 402
Main Author: Macagno, Fabrizio
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature Nov2013
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        10.1007/s10503-013-9291-1
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        atl: Strategies of Character Attack.
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        au: Macagno, Fabrizio
        affil: ArgLab, Instituto de Filosofia da Linguagem (IFL), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Edifício I&D, 4 andar, Avenida de Berna 26 1069-061 Lisbon Portugal
      su:
        Dialogue
        Value judgments (Philosophy)
        Reasoning
        Debate
        Emotions
        Fear
      sug:
        subj:
          Dialogue
          Value judgments (Philosophy)
          Reasoning
          Debate
          Emotions
          Fear
      keyword:
        Ad hominem
        Argument from consequences
        Character attack
        Emotive words
        Fallacies
        Pity
        Political discourse
        Undercutter
        Values
      ab: Why are personal attacks so powerful? In political debates, speeches, discussions and campaigns, negative character judgments, aggressive charges and charged epithets are used for different purposes. They can block the dialogue, trigger value judgments and influence decisions; they can force the interlocutor to withdraw a viewpoint or undermine his arguments. Personal attacks are not only multifaceted dialogical moves, but also complex argumentative strategies. They can be considered as premises for further arguments based on signs, generalizations or consequences. They involve tactics for arousing emotions such as fear, hate or contempt, or for ridiculing the interlocutor. The twofold level of investigation presented in this paper is aimed at distinguishing the different roles that ad hominem have in a dialogue and bringing to light their hidden dimensions. The reasoning structure of each type of attack will be distinguished from the tactics used to increase its effectiveness and conceal its weaknesses.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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