TAFM → The Move → Defensive Moves → Deflections Guide → Tu Quoque
What is a “Tu Quoque”1
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Table of Contents
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Core Definition
Tu Quoque is Latin for “You do it too!” It happens when a person treats the critic’s hypocrisy as if it makes the criticism false.
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How Does This Move Work?
Tu Quoque is a response given to criticism that points back at the critic: “You do it too”. Instead of inspecting whether the criticism is true, the attention is shifted to the critic’s own behaviour. While the accusation of hypocrisy may actually be true—unless that hypocrisy changes the substance of the claim, it doesn’t refute it.⠀
How to build a Tu Quoque fallacy:
Person A criticizes Person B
Person B accuses Person A of doing the same thing
Person B treats that inconsistency as an answer, or refutation, of Person A’s criticism.
Sometimes this inconsistency actually does matter. For example, if a person’s hypocrisy tells us something about their sincerity, trustworthiness, motives, or willingness to live by the rule they are preaching, it can be a relevant point.
A person’s inconsistency may weaken their credibility, but it doesn’t necessarily make their claim false. A hypocrite can still be right. I can speak to this personally. Saying “Poison is unsafe to drink” does not suddenly become false because the person saying it is drinking poison.
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The key diagnostic question is:
“Does the inconsistency actually change the truth of the claim, or is it just being used to dodge the claim?”
Some cries of “but, you!” are valid, but just pointing out that someone is being a hypocrite does not defeat their argument or typically dismiss an accusation.
Reality does not stop being true just because the messenger has dirty hands.
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The Claim
A Tu Quoque fallacy gets power by marrying two questions together:
Question 1: Is the claim true?
Question 2: Is the speaker consistent?
Those aren’t the same question.
Hypocrisy may reduce trust.
But it doesn’t assassinate the claim.
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You’ll Recognize This When…
The reply sounds like:
“You do it too.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“You’re one to talk.”
“That’s rich coming from you.”
“You only care when they do it.”
The move often arrives when the original criticism is uncomfortable. A tu quoque is a very potent weapon of anti-accountability. When being confronted with an offense, some people’s first reaction is to point to the person blaming them and accuse them of doing the same thing — as a way of diminishing the offense.
“If everyone is jumping off a bridge, then you can’t call me silly for doing it”.
Note: You can.
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Diagnostic Test
Ask:
“Would the claim still be true if someone less hypocritical said it?”
If yes, the hypocrisy is a side issue.
Possibly relevant. Possibly satisfying. Possibly hilarious.
Still a side issue.
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Repair Move
Try:
“My consistency is a separate question. Is the claim accurate?”
Or:
“That may show I’m inconsistent. It does not show the argument is false.”
Or:
“Fine — inspect my hypocrisy next. First answer whether the criticism is true.”
The critic can be examined next.
First, examine the criticism.
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Related Concepts
Hypocrisy Deflection
Motive Attack
Character Substitution
Steel vs Scabbard Check
Claim Compression Check
Motive Parking
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Footnotes
Etymology: Latin for “you too” or “you also.” The term entered English rhetorical usage in the early 17th century. Merriam-Webster dates its first known use to 1614.
