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What is a "straw man?"

Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 8:17 pm
by YoungApolegist
I never really understood what the term meant. Can someone explain this to me?

Re: What is a "straw man?"

Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 11:13 pm
by Danieltwotwenty
It means they attack a position you do not hold too. Like for example I argue for the Bible being true and they counter argue that the Bible is not true because the age of the Earth is millions of years, since I am a Theistic Evolutionist I don't hold to the Y.E.C. interpretation and the argument is invalid.

Re: What is a "straw man?"

Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 12:52 am
by neo-x
Dan covered it pretty well, just a rephrase, a straw man is basically a false position created and attributed to the other person by you, only to be knocked down by you easily, to give you some credit in the eye of the beholder.

Re: What is a "straw man?"

Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 7:27 am
by PaulSacramento
A list of "logical fallacies":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies