Importance of the Straw Man Fallacy

In the context of the discussions of the social networks and in any dialectical confrontation arguments are used that do not always have a valid structure. This inappropriate form of argumentation is known by the term fallacy. As is logical, there is not a single fallacious reasoning but there are different modalities: argument ad hominem, fallacy ad ignorantiam, fallacy ad verecundiam, hasty generalization or the fallacy of the man of straw. All these arguments have a deceitful or manipulative component.

What is the straw man fallacy?

An argument is attacked by presenting it in a very simple way or a distorted version of an idea is presented. In others words, a caricature of a reasoning is produced in order to discredit it. In short, in this dialectical trap or fallacy a fictitious argument is used to attack the real argument.

This fallacy can have two possible variants or interpretations. On the one hand, that someone has not lent enough attention to the words of his interlocutor and for this reason there is an obvious distortion in his response.

On the other hand, quite often the one who uses this tricky argument knows very well that his reasoning is fallacious but he uses it with the intention of discredit your dialectical opponent (do not forget that in many discussions and debates it seems more important to defeat the opponent than honest defense of the truth).

Two illustrative examples

Someone claims that in policy it is desirable that the representatives of the people are people with professional experience and before this assertion another interlocutor maintains that it is not admissible to deny young people access to the political sphere (this last statement distorts the message initial).

In a forum on education someone argues that the best way to reduce crime is to increase the investment in education and another person answers that crime victims should be protected (the argument of the defense of the victims does not refute the argument of a greater investment in education to reduce the delinquency).

Where does the metaphor of the straw man come from?

It is believed to come from the medieval context, specifically when knights exercised their skill and skill as warriors by practicing against a human figure made of straw. Thus, just as it is very easy to knock down a scarecrow in a fight, it is also very easy to disqualify someone by stating something that he has not said or by distorting his words.

Fotolia image. nattapong