Which logical fallacy is exemplified in the following statement: 'No one can criticize Freudian psychoanalysis unless the one who criticizes has himself been psychoanalysed'?
AAd hominem ✓ Correct
BAppeal to authority
CAppeal to ignorance
DEquivocation
Correct answer: (A) Ad hominem
Explanation
The statement blocks criticism by pointing at the critic rather than at the argument.
It says no one may criticise Freud unless he has himself been psychoanalysed.
This makes the critic's personal circumstance the test of the criticism's worth.
The merits of the criticism are set aside in favour of a fact about the person.
Rejecting an argument by appeal to the arguer's circumstances is the ad hominem fallacy.
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