All too often, people on the left confuse well-articulated snark and sarcasm with rigorous argumentation. They confuse attacks on an individual’s personal background with sound criticisms of that individual’s ideas. But they choose not to address or even recognize their glaring logical fallacies and ersatz critical thinking skills. Instead, some on the left – especially academics and public figures – become emboldened by their emotionalism. They are “the good guys,” and anyone who disagrees with their worldview is clearly misguided or, worse, a benighted soul.

One such “good guy” is Donald Lazere, a professor emeritus in the English Department at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He recently released a book titled Why Higher Education Should Have a Leftist Bias. According to Lazere, college students have been negatively influenced by widespread right-wing indoctrination and “conservative bias,” and it’s time to offer left-wing alternatives. In one passage, Lazere explains that he taught his students to start their analysis of an argumentative piece by considering the author’s “vantage point.” George Leef, who critiques Lazere’s book in this week’s Pope Center Clarion Call, notes that such “analysis” is really just another iteration of the ad hominem fallacy.

Read more about Lazere’s ideas and Leef’s critique of his book here.