You do it too

Tu quoque says the speaker does the thing they criticise, and treats that as an answer. Hypocrisy can be real and still leave the claim untouched. A related miss is the idea that a bad argument makes the conclusion false. Pointing at a fault in the person, or at a fault in their reasoning, is not yet a reason to reject the conclusion. You may still mention the hypocrisy. Then answer the point they made. If the point survives, the fact that they fail it is a fact about them.

Fallacy

Tu quoque

Tu quoque answers a criticism by saying the critic does the same thing. Hypocrisy may hurt someone’s standing. It does not show that the criticism is false. A bad example can still state a true rule.

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Mini check

"Your argument relied on an ad hominem, so your conclusion must be false." What is wrong with this reply?

A bad argument for a conclusion does not show the conclusion is false.Nothing: an argument with a fallacy always has a false conclusion.It commits a straw man, because the first argument was valid.It is circular, because it assumes the conclusion is false.

Try it today

If you are about to say 'you do it too', add one sentence that answers the claim itself.

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