Argumentum ad Hitlerum [ahr-gyuh-men-tuhm ad hit-ler-uhm] [
] adjective -
] adjective -
- a response to an argument in which a position or factual claim is rebutted by comparing its progenitor to Hitler, or the progenitor’s reasoning to that of the Nazis; the process of proving or disproving the initial claim is thereby subverted. {source}
7 Responses to “Argumentum ad Hitlerum”
I don’t know if this is going to work here in the comments, but I found the daily show clip of a closer look at Hitler references. The whole bit takes over five minutes - whereas now, we have a new fauxlogism to make the same point.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=114018&title=a-relatively-closer-look-hitler
By Nick on Jan 26, 2008
Isn’t this related to Godwin’s Law
By Pageman on Jan 27, 2008
Godwin’s Law announces that the first person to use an argument which involves Hitler or the Nazis automatically loses whatever point was in contention. The logic behind Argumentum ad Hitlerum is that the person who uses this technique, barring another party using Godwin’s Law, will generally win the debate. Godwin’s Law is essentially a response to Argumentum ad Hitlerum which nullifies its effectiveness.
By Fauxlogist on Jan 27, 2008
I would make “ler” the stressed syllable, not “hit”.
By Jon on Jan 27, 2008
I haven’t quite pinned down the proper way of determining emphasis. I sound it out in my head, but that doesn’t always seem to work. Is there a proper emphasis determining technique?
By Fauxlogist on Jan 28, 2008
In the case of Latin, there are rules about which syllable is accented, the penult (second to last) or the antepenult (third to last). In this specific case, assuming “Hitlerum” to be a valid Latin word, the accent would be on the penult.
By Brother Jeffrey on Feb 4, 2008
A badly needed expression for an all-too-common phenomenon.
By George Nathan on May 1, 2008