Madam, - I wish to respond to Dr Stephen J. Costello's letter of June 10th in which he summarily dismissed two of his critics.
First of all, Dr Costello ended his earlier letter (May 30th) with an ad hominem statement, a most unpardonable argumentative error which seeks to destroy an opponent's position by finding fault with his character, when he ridiculed Prof Peter Singer for being a "fluffy, vegetarian, moustached, a-bit-long-in-the-tooth hippie".
Secondly, Dr Costello appears to have trouble following even his own argument when he fails to see that to discourage unnecessary cruelty towards animals automatically implies, by virtue of qualifying the latter behaviour as "unnecessary", an acceptance of necessary cruelty towards them.
Thirdly, how can he truly call himself a philosopher when he is so sure of his own views that he fails to appreciate the validity of opposing views? As for Dr Costello wondering "what is so scary about being right?", perhaps he should also contemplate why he is so afraid to be wrong. - Yours, etc.,
FRANK BOUCHIER-HAYES,
Newcastle West,
Co Limerick.