Tu quoque

This article is about the logical fallacy. For the historical quotation "Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi", see Et tu, Brute? For the play by John Cooke, see Greene's Tu Quoque. For legal defense, see tu quoque defense.

Tu quoque (/tjuːˈkwoʊkwiː/;[1] Latin for 'you also') is a discussion technique that intends to discredit the opponent's argument by attacking the opponent's own personal behavior and actions as being inconsistent with their argument, so that the opponent appears hypocritical. This specious reasoning is a special type of ad hominem attack. The Oxford English Dictionary cites John Cooke's 1614 stage play The Cittie Gallant as the earliest known use of the term in the English language.[1]

  1. ^ a b "tu quoque". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2016-04-24. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)