A Stoic does not use ad hominem attacks because it is beneath them to do so. An ad hominem attack is an attack on someone’s character and not the issue at hand. What a less intelligent person will do is refer to a persons’ appearance, their past, in order to disregard a current argument. In fact, the person that uses these terminologies are less intelligent because they have nothing to add to a conversation except stupid insults. They in fact want to close it down because they have reached the limit of their understanding and cannot go on any further intellectually.
Examples Of Ad Hominem Attacks
They were wrong in the past about this, so they are wrong now. They are short or tall, how can they know anything. Not only that, but they are a certain color or race, they can’t possibly know. They are young, they can’t know anything. Or they are too old and must have Alzheimer’s setting in. They have false teeth, think I am going to believe them? He is bald, what can he know? Of course these examples go on and on, but understand that it is the one using these terms that are in want. Because of their limited understanding, they choose to insult the other person’s character, which reveals their own ignorance.
Why Stoics Do Not Use Ad Hominem Attacks
Not only are ad hominem attacks beneath a Stoic, they are pretty much everything a Stoic is against. A Stoic thinks outside the box of ordinary concepts. A Stoic that thirst for understanding and knowledge must be humble enough to learn from anyone and anything. This makes them solid in their resolve not to use ad hominem attacks. To increase our knowledge, we must realize when we reach the limits of our understanding on certain subjects, we must be willing to learn more.
What It Means To Be Stoic
Being Stoic means a lot of things, but one of the greatest meanings of Stoicism is that you are willing to learn. A Stoic is a humble student of nature and instead of complaining about things they have no control over, they work with nature and humbly accept their human limitations. We do not worry about being wrong, we think about failing forward. It is not our plight to worry about things we have no control over. We only change the things we do have control over. Our responses to certain situations in life is the only thing that matter. It’s not what is introduced to our mind, but how we think about what is being introduced to our mind, that is important.
How Stoics Make A Difference
A Stoics resolve is one of the most powerful that you will ever be introduced to. Poise, class, intellect, love, compassion and peace only to mention a few of their qualities. Stoics are not cowards, if they can change something or make a positive difference, they are not afraid to take action with something that is in their control. They also refrain from many different things like making ad hominem attacks. You will probably not see a Stoic get upset about natural disasters, but they will help when it comes to the cleanup and saving lives. Just because a Stoic makes the resolve not to worry about things that are not in their control does not mean they are cold, shallow people. No, rather, this makes more time in their mind to think about what they do have control over. They then make an effective plan of action and execute it. They are truly the best friends and mate a person can have.