Straw Man Fallacy Definition & Example

Straw Man Fallacy

What is Straw Man Fallacy?

The straw man fallacy is an informal fallacy where a debater sets up a weaker version of their opponent’s argument and knocks it down. They are distorting the opponent’s position to make it easier to win the debate.

The straw man fallacy is a type of logical fallacy, which involves misrepresenting an opponent’s position. It is a logical fallacy where one distorts an opponent’s position to make it easier to refute. It is also called the Straw Person Fallacy.

The Straw Man Fallacy is when a speaker falsely assumes that the opponent has a certain belief and then proceeds to refute this belief. The technique involves giving a distorted presentation of an opponent’s position, either by attributing false beliefs or faulty reasoning to them and then heading off these ideas.

It is a fallacy of relevance where one distorts the meaning of an opponent’s argument by misrepresenting it or substituting a different position for the original.

This helps you to make your argument sound more compelling by showing that your opponent’s view is flawed or in some way inadequate. It also allows you to refute their argument by using the same premises and evidence as they did but arriving at a different conclusion.

However, this technique can be used purposefully to attack someone else’s viewpoint dishonestly to discredit it – called refutations without rebuttals or “straw man” fallacies.

An argument made in bad faith often creates the illusion of having refuted a point that was never actually made.

Straw Man Argument

In a logical argument, a straw man is a common fallacious technique of refuting an opponent’s proposition by misrepresenting it or creating a superficially similar yet unequivalent argument.

The term “straw man” is based on the practice of placing a scarecrow in the middle of a field to guard against birds landing there.

Similarly, one might create an ineffective version of another person’s position and refute that instead of their actual view, which has been set out more precisely (thus appearing to refute it while actually refuting an easier target).

Thus setting up a Straw Man involves over-simplifying one’s opponents’ arguments into easily refuted statements while simultaneously equivocating them with other concepts.

Straw Man argument is a fallacy consisting of the misrepresentation of an opponent’s position, leading to a conclusion that weakens their argument or makes it easier to refute. This type of logical fallacies can be difficult to spot because people tend to focus on the proposition itself instead of looking at its context.

Straw Man Argument and a Straw Man Fallacy

What is the difference between a Straw Man Argument and a Straw Man Fallacy?

A Straw Man Argument is an informal logical fallacy of faulty reasoning in which one person oversimplifies another’s argument. A Straw Man Fallacy is an error in reasoning that uses a misrepresentation of someone else’s position to discredit them.

Straw Man Fallacy Examples

If you have ever had a debate about anything, the chances are that someone used the straw man argument on you. It is one of the most commonly used forms of fallacies in arguments. The name comes from an ancient English folk tale where people would burn scarecrows made of straw.

Many adults feel that kids are too immature to understand things that adults do and say, resulting in some of the most common names for children being “brat” and “little thing.” But this is not necessarily the case. Kids pick up on things that are said in their presence, and it can be hard to tell when they understand the meaning behind what someone says.

Straw Man Fallacy Examples in Politics

This technique has been used in politics for decades. For example, during his campaign, President Trump outlined several times how his opponent, Hillary Clinton, would repeal the 2nd Amendment.

Straw Man Fallacy Examples in Media

Example: The media often portrays people who are opposed to a certain issue as being “crazy” or irrational.  When the media reports on an event, they often only focus on one side of the story and ignore other perspectives. The media can be biased when it comes to what they report about different groups of people.

Another example; The media often portrays people in positions of power as infallible and without fault. The media tends to portray the two sides of an issue as equally valid, even when one side is clearly wrong.

Some news outlets take a person’s words out of context in order to create a false narrative.

Straw Man Fallacy Examples in Movies

The protagonist is a superhero, and The antagonist is a supervillain. The main character will always be right for their role, even if they are not qualified or have never been trained for it.