UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

An ad hominem fallacy attacks the person making the argument instead of addressing the argument’s content. In the statement, the speaker dismisses the climate change argument based solely on the speaker’s professional background, rather than examining evidence or logic. This makes the personal attribute irrelevant to the truth of the claim and shifts attention away from the actual reasoning.

Option A:
Option A, straw man, involves misrepresenting someone’s argument and attacking the distorted version, which is not happening here.

Option B:
Option B correctly identifies the focus on the person rather than the argument as the key flaw. The criticism targets who is speaking, not what is being said.

Option C:
Option C, appeal to pity, tries to win support by arousing sympathy rather than offering reasons, which is absent here.

Option D:
Option D, appeal to ignorance, argues that a proposition is true simply because it has not been proven false, which is a different kind of mistake.