Straw_man

This article is about the logical fallacy. For other uses, see Straw man (disambiguation).

A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent\'s position.Pirie, Madsen (2007). How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic. UK: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8264-9894-6.  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). A straw man argument can be a successful rhetorical technique (that is, it may succeed in persuading people) but it carries little or no real evidential weight, because the opponent\'s actual argument has not been refuted.The Straw Man Fallacy. Fallacy Files. Retrieved on 12 October, 2007.

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 itOnline Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.. Such a target is, naturally, immobile and does not fight back, and is not 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.

Setup

A straw man argument can be set up in several ways, including:

1. 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.
2. Quoting an opponent\'s words out of context -- i.e., choosing quotations that are not representative of the opponent\'s actual intentions (see contextomy and quote mining).
3. 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.
4. Inventing a fictitious persona with actions or beliefs that are criticized, such that the person represents a group of whom the speaker is critical.
5. Oversimplifying an opponent\'s argument, then attacking the simplified version.

However, carefully presenting and refuting a weakened form of an opponent\'s argument is not always itself a fallacy. It can restrict the scope of the opponent\'s argument or be a legitimate step of a proof by exhaustion.

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".

• Bumper sticker: "Feminism is the radical belief that women are human."

The writer of the bumper sticker refutes the consensus, which allegedly maintains that women are subhuman. However, no sufficient evidence exists that consensus considers women subhuman.

See also

• List of fallacies
• Ad hominem
• Straw golliwog

References

External links

• The Straw Man Fallacy at the Fallacy Files
• Straw Man, more examples of straw man arguments

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