tu quoque

{{About|the logical fallacy|the historical quotation "Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi"|Et tu, Brute?{{!}}Et tu, Brute?|the play by John Cooke|Greene's Tu Quoque{{!}}Greene's Tu Quoque|legal defense|Tu quoque defense{{!}}Tu quoque defense}}

{{lang|la|Tu quoque}}{{efn|{{IPAc-en|tj|uː|ˈ|k|w|oʊ|k|w|iː}};{{cite OED|tu quoque|207514 |access-date=2016-04-24}} {{langnf|la||you also}}. Also known as the appeal to hypocrisy, "you too" fallacy, "two wrongs" fallacy, "pot calling the kettle black" fallacy, and the "look who's talking" fallacy.}} 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 {{em|ad hominem}} attack. The {{em|Oxford English Dictionary}} cites John Cooke's 1614 stage play {{em|The Cittie Gallant}} as the earliest known use of the term in the English language.

Form and explanation

The (fallacious) {{em|tu quoque}} argument follows the template (i.e. pattern):{{cite web|title=Fallacy: Ad Hominem Tu Quoque|url=http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/ad-hominem-tu-quoque.html|website=Nizkor project|access-date=24 November 2015|archive-date=12 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912010043/http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/ad-hominem-tu-quoque.html|url-status=dead}}

Person A claims that a statement {{mvar|X}} is true.
Person B asserts that A's actions or past claims are inconsistent with the truth of claim {{mvar|X}}.
Therefore, {{mvar|X}} is false.

For example:

Person A: "Smoking is associated with chronic health disorders. You shouldn't smoke."
Person B: "But you smoke yourself. So much for your argument!"{{cite book |last1=Walton |first1=Douglas |title=Ad Hominem Arguments |date=September 1998 |publisher=University of Alabama Press |isbn=978-0-8173-0922-0 |page=102 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Ad_Hominem_Arguments/-HTQY_b1_84C |language=en}}

Person A makes a statement, and Person B reasons that because Person A is being hypocritical, their statement is false.

Similar concepts

A similar concept in politics is that of whataboutism; raising a counteraccusation, often in the form of a larger but unrelated issue. In the Soviet Union in the 1930s, the phrase "and you are lynching Negroes" was often raised against the United States.