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Table 3 Examples of ad hominem arguments in creationist writings

From: Argumentation and fallacies in creationist writings against evolutionary theory

Type

Portrayal or citation

Type

Science content

Source

Demonization

“One side of Darwin rarely discussed in popular and scientific literature was his powerful sadistic bent.”

YEC

No

Bergman [2005]

 

”…the editors and defenders of Darwin have done a superb job in hiding Darwin’s clear racism…”

YEC

Yes

Brace [2006]

Disqualification

“…although evolutionists continue to demolish one another’s hypotheses, they fail to come to terms with the underlying problem of their fossil investigations—the materialist worldview.”

YEC

Yes

Doyle [2007]

 

“Was Charles Darwin psychotic? A study of his mental health”

YEC

Yes

Bergman [2004]

 

“Anyone who has not studied inorganic chemistry and biochemistry at university level, should not take stand on the concept of chemical evolution, i.e., emergence of the first cell.”

YEC

Yes

Reinikainen [2013b]

Dishonesty

(Darwin was absent from a public debate) “…is there just a suspicion of cowardice tinged with guilt here?”

YEC

Yes

Brace [2006]

 

Punctuated equilibrium models described as an ad hoc escape from lack of evidence on evolutionary theory.

ID/OEC

Yes

Johnson [1993], 44; Puolimatka [2009], 421; Puolimatka [2010], 381

 

“…if evolutionists really believe what they say or if they are purposively trying to mislead. I suspect there are some of both.”

YEC

Yes

Morris [2013]

Gullibility

“…most evolutionists are evolutionists because they are victims of the wrong teaching of others.”

YEC

Yes

Morris [2013]

Circumstantial ad hominem

“Most evolutionists… will freely admit that there are no ‘missing links’ although there have been several missing link hoaxes!”

YEC

Yes

Brace [2004]

 

Naturalists are accused of discussing religion although they claim that religion should be left out of scientific discussions.

ID/OEC

Yes

Puolimatka [2009], 235–271

 

Citations of evolutionary biologists allegedly affirming the lack of evidence for evolution.

ID/OEC

Yes

Davis and Kenyon [1998], 23; Puolimatka [2009], 419–422; Puolimatka [2010], 366–384

  1. YEC = young earth creationism, OEC = old earth creationism, ID = intelligent design. “Science content” signifies whether the arguments are presented in the context of debate about the scientific details of evolutionary theory.