In an argument, ad personam, short for argumentum ad personam, is a tactic aimed at discrediting one's opponent by attacking their personality, unrelated to the substance of the debate.
Origin
In his treatise
The Art of Being Always Right, the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer lists this technique under the title of
Stratagem No. 38 (both last listed and last resort):
Character and person
Ad personam and
ad hominem are distinct. The former is a personal attack, unrelated to the subject matter of the debate, which aims to discredit the person of the opponent regardless of his arguments; the latter focuses on the argumentation, reasoning or behavior of the opponent in relation to the subject matter of the debate, rather than directly on the subject matter of the debate itself.
In his Manuel de Polémique, Stéphane Muras outlines the distinction between an argument concerning character (ad hominem) and an argument concerning personal attributes (ad personam).
Examples
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Argumentum ad hominem: "Hannah Arendt does not develop a philosophy to which one can refer: she had a relationship with a Nazi in the person of Martin Heidegger."
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Argumentum ad personam: When Gaétan Barrette first became Quebec's Minister of Health, many people attacked him for being overweight, regardless of his health policy. "An online petition launched by a Quebec entrepreneur, Pierre-Étienne Vachon, asking Dr. Barrette to lose weight was signed by 8,500 people. These people claimed that Gaétan Barrette could not be Minister of Health while being obese."
