Re: Mea Culpa, mea Culpa + gloassary

[Margaret Stokes <milamba@optushome.com.au>]

Donald,

It's really very easy - you state your opinion about a person's work, 
rather than the person themselves.  EG: In the case where Tim said "John 
Millar is, to say the least, a bit
'flakey'." - this is an "ad hominem" attack on a person, in other words, it 
says something about the person themselves.  If, instead, Tim had said 
"John Millar's work is a bit flakey" this would not have been an personal 
attack but rather casting aspersions on the person's work.  This is the key 
difference.  Say what you feel you need about a person's work, but don't 
say it about the person themselves.

Hope that clarifies
Milamba

>John and Tim,
>
>You are both synonymous to the list in my mind and the loss of either
>would be tragic. Can we not reach an accord here somehow for the sake of
>us mere mortals?
>
>Donald Sinclair
>Alberta, Canada

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