Is attempting to discredit something by invoking it’s age a fallacy?
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Original Question
Many times when I have cited 20th anthropological works in debates regarding racial typology others have tried to dismiss them by claiming that they are “outdated”. Does this qualify as an ad hominem, or something else?
Comments on Question
Answers
1It depends. "They are outdated" is a claim. We need a reason to see if this is fallacious or not. They may very well be outdated and a rational presentation of evidence to support that would justify that claim. However, "They are outdated because they are old" is not just a bad reason to claim writings are "outdated" but could seen as a non sequitur as it does not follow that just because a writing is old, it is therefore outdated.
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The typological model in anthropology for categorizing people by race is now thoroughly discredited is a statement of fact. But as Bo said, simply calling something outdated is not an argument. It may be the beginning of an argument, like saying "position X is outdated" and then proceeding to demonstrate with evidence why this is so. But left alone it is not an argument at all but more like an ad hominem. It almost appears like they are saying you are outdated.