"Poisoning the Well" a strategy and concept that works well today

~Poisoning the Well ~

The current state government strategy on private prison growth in Arizona

This sort of "reasoning" involves trying to discredit what a person might later claim by presenting unfavorable information (be it true or false) about the person. This "argument" has the following form:

1. Unfavorable information (be it true or false) about person A is presented.
2. Therefore any claims person A makes will be false.

This sort of "reasoning" is obviously fallacious. The person making such an attack is hoping that the unfavorable information will bias listeners against the person in question and hence that they will reject any claims he might make. However, merely presenting unfavorable information about a person (even if it is true) hardly counts as evidence against the claims he/she might make.  This is especially clear when “Poisoning the Well”  is looked at as a form of ad Homimem in which the attack is made prior to the person even making the claim or claims. The following example clearly shows that this sort of "reasoning" is quite poor.

Hence another example: Translated from Latin to English, "Ad Hominem" means "against the man" or "against the person."

An Ad Hominem is a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument. Typically, this fallacy involves two steps. First, an attack against the character of person making the claim, her circumstances, or her actions is made (or the character, circumstances, or actions of the person reporting the claim). Second, this attack is taken to be evidence against the claim or argument the person in question is making (or presenting). This type of "argument" has the following form:

1. Person A makes claim X.
2. Person B makes an attack on person A.
3. Therefore A's claim is false.

The reason why an Ad Hominem (of any kind) is a fallacy is that the character, circumstances, or actions of a person do not (in most cases) have a bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim being made (or the quality of the argument being made).

Start thinking on your own ~ do your own fact finding or use credible resources to do so~ taking a politician’s word or those unelected bureaucrat’s messages at full face value is foolish and often misleading of the matter at hand.  

Arizona people are smart and articulate. They are educated and realize their contributions to this state is what makes this one of few that has developed into a paradise for many to come here and forget those things they ran away from ~ don’t let local politicians snare you into their way of thinking and give them free reign with their own mandates and policy making.  Source:

 http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/poisoning-the-well.html