Everything about Strawman totally explained
A
straw man argument is an
informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "set up a straw man" or "set up a straw man argument" is to describe a position that superficially resembles an opponent's actual view but is easier to refute, then attribute that position to the opponent (for example, deliberately overstating the opponent's position).
Its name is derived from the practice of using
straw men in combat training. In such training, a
scarecrow is made in the image of the enemy with the single intent of attacking it. Such a target is, naturally, immobile and doesn't fight back, and isn't as realistic to test skill against compared to a live and armed opponent.
It is occasionally called a
straw dog fallacy,
scarecrow argument, or
wooden dummy argument.
The Reasoning
Carefully presenting and refuting a weakened form of an opponent's argument isn't always itself a fallacy. It can refocus the scope of an argument or be a legitimate step of a
proof by exhaustion. In contrast the straw man fallacy occurs in the following pattern:
1. Person A has position X.
2. Person B ignores X and instead presents position Y.
Y is a distorted version of X and can be set up in several ways, including:
- Presenting a misrepresentation of the opponent's position and then refuting it, thus giving the appearance that the opponent's actual position has been refuted.
- Quoting an opponent's words out of context -- for example, choosing quotations that are not representative of the opponent's actual intentions (see contextomy and quote mining).
- Presenting someone who defends a position poorly as the defender and then refuting that person's arguments, thus giving the appearance that every upholder of that position, and thus the position itself, has been defeated.
- Inventing a fictitious persona with actions or beliefs that are criticized, such that the person represents a group of whom the speaker is critical.
- Oversimplifying an opponent's argument, then attacking the simplified version.
3. Person B attacks position Y.
4. Person B draws a conclusion that X is false/incorrect/flawed.
This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because attacking a distorted version of a position simply doesn't constitute an attack on the position itself.
Examples
Hypothetical Marijuana debate.
» Person A: We should liberalize the laws on marijuana.
Person B: No. Any society with unrestricted access to drugs loses its work ethic and goes only for immediate gratification.
The proposal was to relax laws on marijuana. Person B has exaggerated this to a position harder to defend: "unrestricted access to drugs".
» Person B: No. That kind of free sex threatens the morality of society.
B has misrepresented A's position as a call for sexual promiscuity.
Use as a verb
The term shows signs of entering the English language in verb form. For example, person A in the above hypothetical debate could retort, "Don't strawman me!".(External Link
)(External Link) An even more advanced usage, seen on an Internet blog: » "Can we make an agreement: I won't strawman you, if you won't strawman me?" (External Link)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Strawman'.
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