Question

What type of argument does the author use in this speech?

(1 point)

The excerpt reads:

But usefulness is precisely the argument other people put forward to justify destroying or displacing wildlife, and they generally bring a larger and more persuasive kind of green to the argument. Nothing you can say about 100 acres in the New Jersey Meadowlands will ever add up for a politician who thinks a new shopping mall will mean more jobs for local voters (and contributions to his campaign war chest). Nothing you can say about the value of things for ecotourism in South Africa will ever matter to a wildlife trafficker who can sell their horns for $30,000 a pound in Vietnam.

The options are:

syntax

logos

ad hominem

pathos

Answer 1

Ad hominem — the author dismisses the “usefulness” argument by attacking opponents’ motives (the politician’s desire for votes/contributions and the trafficker’s profit) rather than refuting the claim itself.