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Straw Man |
| Description: | ||
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| The argument misrepresents a position that it seeks to refute. By refuting the position as misrepresented, the argument creates the impression that it has refuted the position that is actually held by opponents. | ||
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| Comments: | ||
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| One version of the Straw Man fallacy is to impute a "hidden agenda" to an opponent. | ||
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| Examples: | ||
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| "The Theory of Evolution says that complexity in the universe increases over time. The Second Law of Thermodynamics says that any increase in complexity is impossible. Hence the Theory of Evolution is inconsistent with the laws of thermodynamics." [In fact the Theory of Natural Selection only concerns biological organisms on earth and says nothing whatsoever about the complexity of the universe as a whole. Similarly, the Second Law of Thermodynamics says that on average complexity will tend to decrease, not that there cannot be localized increases from time to time.] | ||
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| "Creationists are pretending to promote a scientific theory, but they are really just trying to introduce their religious teachings into the classroom." | ||
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| Discussion: | ||
| There is nothing wrong with stating an opponent's
position. Indeed, in order to refute an argument it is always necessary to
clearly (and accurately) state the argument to be refuted. It is
characteristic of good reasoning that due consideration to the opposing
position is given. Hence, the Straw Man fallacy does not consist in stating
an opponent's position, but only in stating it inaccurately. The image of
the "straw man" is supposed to suggest a figure dressed up to look the
opponent, but that cannot fight back, and falls down easily. In order to know whether an argument has been stated accurately, it may be necessary to read or hear the argument for yourself. As with other fallacies of Misrepresentation, the only way to expose the fallacy may be to do some outside checking. However, the Straw Man fallacy is often easy to spot even without extra reading. Since the purpose of the fallacy is to state an opponent's position in a way that will make it easy to refute, there is a temptation to give such a simple-minded and blatantly silly version of the position that it appears false even from the outset. In fact, very few people hold simple-minded, silly, and obviously false positions. Whenever you see such a position attributed to an opponent, you may be fairly sure that a Straw Man fallacy has been committed. |
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| Classification: A Fallacy of Misrepresentation (a deductive fallacy of soundness with a falsehood in the minor premiss). | ||
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| Source: The Port-Royal Logic (Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole, L'Art de Penser, 1662) describes this fallacy without naming it. The earliest reference to "straw" appears in Isaac Watts' Logick, or, the Right Use of Reason, 1725, where the phrase "images of straw" is used. | ||
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