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Mormonism and apologetics/"ad hominem"/Case study/An attempt to portray Dan Peterson as dishonest and possibly mentally ill
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John Dehlin attempts to portray Dan Peterson as dishonest and possibly mentally ill
Daniel Peterson seems to be a pathological deceiver. I don't know how else to explain his behavior. Crazy.
—John Dehlin, webmaster of Mormon Stories[1]
Detailed Analysis
Dehlin here claims that Peterson has a "pathological" need to lie. This verges on a psychiatric diagnosis, and is given more force by the fact that Dehlin was in a PhD psychology program. He does not, however, prove that Peterson is lying, or provide any evidence that he is. He merely smears Peterson with the label to reduce the likelihood that others will believe Peterson.
This is a text-book example of ad hominem.
He also accuses Peterson of being guilty of "ad homenem"[2] without providing any evidence--this is, ironically, an ad hominem technique.
Notes
- ↑ John Dehlin, “Greg Smith, Dan Peterson, John Dehlin, & Lou Midgley,” (12 May 2012); John Dehlin, “Greg Smith, Dan Peterson, John Dehlin, & Lou,” post on mormondiscussions.com,10 May 2012, (8:56 PM) {{{1}}}
- ↑ Ibid.
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