Tu Quoque: The "Look Who"s Talking" Fallacy
Definition:
A type of ad hominemargument in which a person turns a charge back on his or her accuser: a logical fallacy. Also called the "you too," the "two wrongs," or the "look who's talking" fallacy.
For a broader definition of tu quoque arguments, see Examples and Observations below. Also see:
Etymology:
From the Latin, "you too"
Examples and Observations:
- "It is clear that a tu quoque response to an accusation can never refute the accusation. Consider the following:
Wilma: You cheated on your income tax. Don't you realize that's wrong?
Walter may be correct in his counter-accusation, but that does not show that Wilma's accusation is false."
Walter: Hey, wait a minute. You cheated on your income tax last year. Or have you forgotten about that?
(William Hughes and Jonathan Lavery, Critical Thinking, 5th ed. Broadview, 2008)
- "Recently, we highlighted a British journalist’s story about the underside of Dubai’s startling ascent. Some in Dubai called foul, including one writer who wants to remind Britons that their own country has a dark side. After all, what to think of a country in which one fifth of the population lives in poverty?"
("Dubai’s Rebuttal," The New York Times, April 15, 2009)
 - "The tu quoque fallacy occurs when one charges another with hypocrisy or inconsistency in order to avoid taking the other's position seriously. For example:
Mother: You should stop smoking. It's harmful to your health.
In this example, the daughter commits the tu quoque fallacy. She dismisses her mother's argument because she believes her mother is speaking in a hypocritical manner. While the mother may indeed be inconsistent, this does not invalidate her argument."
Daughter: Why should I listen to you? You started smoking when you were 16!
(Jacob E. Van Vleet, Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide. University Press of America, 2011)
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- A Broader Definition of Tu QuoqueÂ
"The tu quoque argument or 'you too' argument, according to the broader account, can be described as the use of any type of argument to reply in like kind to a speaker's argument. In other words, if a speaker uses a particular type of argument, say an argument from analogy, then the respondent can turn around and use that same kind of argument against the speaker, and this would be called a tu quoque argument . . .. So conceived, the tu quoque argument is quite a broad category that would include other types of argument as well as ad hominem arguments."
(Douglas N. Walton, Ad Hominem Arguments. University of Alabama Press, 1998) - The Childish Response
"Of all human instincts, not even the urge to say 'I told you so' is stronger than the response called tu quoque: 'Look who's talking.' To judge from children, it is innate ('Cathy says you took her chocolate,' 'Yes but she stole my doll'), and we don't grow out of it . . ..
"France has led calls for pressure to be put on the Burmese junta at the security council and through the EU, where foreign ministers discussed the issue yesterday. As part of the push it has tried to enlist a recalcitrant Russia which, conscious perhaps of Chechnya, has no great wish to be seen criticising anyone else's internal affairs. Hence a Russian minister's response that the next time there were riots in France he would refer the matter to the UN.
"This reply was at once childish, irrelevant, and probably very gratifying."
(Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The Guardian, Oct. 16, 2007)
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Pronunciation: tu-KWO-kway
Also Known As: the two wrongs fallacy, the pot calling the kettle black