An Argument Made of Straw: What is the Straw Man Fallacy?
It's unlikely that you've ever had a fight with a straw man — yes, a man made of straw — but you may have argued with someone using a straw man fallacy.
That's right, many of us will have encountered something called the straw man fallacy, whether in our own arguments or debates, or when listening to public figures.
A straw man argument is a logical fallacy. According to the News Literacy Project it happens when a person "responds not to the point being made, but to a new point created by simplifying or exaggerating something that another person said."
So the original person's point is misrepresented to make it easier to attack, perhaps by taking it out of context, generalizing or focusing only on selective parts of the argument. That's why it's called a "straw man" — because a person made of straw is easy to knock down or destroy, just like an overly simple argument.
Here's an example. Person A argues that more money should be invested in renewable energy for the good of the planet. Person B replies: "You think we should abandon all traditional forms of energy right away and plunge societies into darkness?"
Person B is misrepresenting Person A's argument to make it sound radical and misguided. And it's fallacious because Person B is avoiding Person A's argument and instead using what Grammarly calls an "inaccurate caricature."
Once you start looking for straw men, you'll see them everywhere. In politics, straw men are often used to discredit a rival's position or to make them sound extreme or untrustworthy.
These arguments are often used in fierce debates when an election is coming close and politicians are trying to rally their supporters behind a cause, and against that of their rival.
However, it's not always used on purpose. It's possible that an argument has simply been misunderstood and so has been misrepresented by accident.
But if you hear a straw man argument from a politician these days, it's probably safe to assume that they know exactly what they're doing!
