Such a principled disregard of ad hominem evidence is a characteristically modern prejudice of professional philosophers. For most Greek and Roman thinkers from Plato to Augustine, theorizing was but one mode of living life philosophically. To Socrates and the countless classical philosophers who tried to follow in his footsteps, the primary point was not to ratify a certain set of propositions (even when the ability to define terms and analyze arguments was a constitutive component of a school's teaching), but rather to explore 'the kind of person, the sort of self' that one could elaborate as a result of taking the quest for wisdom seriously. James Miller
About This Quote

Ad hominem is Latin for "to the man." It is used to refer to arguments that appeal to personal reasons or biases, rather than the reason or bias itself. The phrase ad hominem refers to arguments that attack others rather than go after the truth of an idea. This type of argument is often used in debates on controversial topics such as gun control, abortion, and climate change. Ad hominem arguments are some of the most common in the history of the internet

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  1. Such a principled disregard of ad hominem evidence is a characteristically modern prejudice of professional philosophers. For most Greek and Roman thinkers from Plato to Augustine, theorizing was but one mode of living life philosophically. To Socrates and the countless classical philosophers who tried to...
  2. Evil comes in various forms, the one it comes most is the crowd of people.
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