Tu quoque

, literally "you, too", is a rhetorical technique that intends to discredit the opponent's argument by attacking the opponent's own personal behaviour and actions as being inconsistent with their argument, so that the opponent appears hypocritical. This reasoning is a special type of attack. The cites John Cooke's 1614 stage play as the earliest known use of the term in the English language.

Form and explanation

The () argument follows the (i.e. pattern):

1. Person A claims that a statement is true.
2. Person B asserts that A's actions or past claims are inconsistent with the truth of claim .
3. Therefore, is false.

For example:

1. Person A: "Smoking is associated with chronic health disorders. You shouldn't smoke."
2. Person B: "But you smoke yourself. So much for your argument!"

Person A makes a statement, and Person B reasons that because Person A is being hypocritical, their statement is false.

Similar concepts

A similar concept in politics is that of whataboutism; raising a counteraccusation, often in the form of a larger but unrelated issue. In the Soviet Union in the 1930s, the phrase "and you are lynching Negroes" was often raised against the United States.

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

• Tu quoque fallacy – Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy