The Poisoning the well reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Poisoning the well

Poisoning the well is a logical fallacy where unfavourable information about someone is presented to an audience, with the intent of discrediting everything said by that person beforehand.

Examples:

Before you listen to my opponent, may I remind you that he has been in jail.

Don't listen to what he says, he's a lawyer.

Poisoning the well is a special case of argumentum ad hominem.

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