Logical fallacy: Straw man A straw man is an intentional misrepresentation of an opponents position, often used in debates with less sophisticated audiences to make it appear that the opponents arguments are more easily defeated than they are. By exaggerating, misrepresenting, or just completely fabricating someones argument, its much easier to present your own position as being reasonable, but this kind of dishonesty serves to undermine honest rational debate. The name straw man suggests setting up a scarecrow that looks like an opponents argument, but is easy to knock down and, figuratively speaking, will not put up a fight. Example A: Evolution is wrong. No one has ever seen a dog give birth to a cat. -Evolution does not say that one species suddenly gives birth to a completely different species. Example B: Atheists say that the Bible isnt true. But archaeologists have found many of the cities mentioned in the Bible, so clearly the atheists are wrong. -No reasonably informed atheist believes that nothing in the Bible is true. Also, even if a book contains some historically true elements, that does not prove that every single thing in the book is also true. For example, many works of historical fiction contain viable facts. Avoid the use of straw men... Theyre annoying.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 03:13:33 +0000
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