straw man argument

The straw man argument or fallacy is where someone tries to destroy your argument by bringing up a different argument that sounds kind of like yours and then destroys that.

It is a fallacy, a false argument, because disproving the straw man argument does not at all logically disprove the argument it misrepresents.

Used by: political parties, religions, talking heads, talk show hosts, spouses, commenters, etc. Beloved by propagandists and Internet trolls, but also used unwittingly even by honest people through a lack of understanding of an opposing point of view.

Red flags:

• An argument presented by someone who disagrees with it.
• Lack of trust between the sides of an argument.
• A huge power imbalance between the sides of an argument.
• Either-or thinking.
• Extreme language.
• The phrase, “You are putting words in my mouth!”

Tricks of the trade:

• Quoting out of context or providing the wrong context (framing).
• Making the straw man argument simpler than the original.
• Making the straw man argument more extreme.
• Twisting words or shifting their meaning.

The classic example on this blog is the Not All Whites argument. I will make some statement about Whites and then be informed that “not all Whites” are like that, that they are Individuals. Even when I say “some Whites” or “most Whites” or “many Whites”, it can still be turned into “all Whites”.

For example, I started one post this way:

“Why do many White Americans hate, demonize, fear and look down on blacks? I am no scientist or scholar, but here is I how I currently think about it….”

Even though I said “many” and put it in italics, I still got stuff like this:

“Not all whites look down and demonize blacks. Some blacks do it to describe whites in general. Here is an example of someone who lifted up black men…”

Not All Whites is a wonderful straw man argument because MANY Whites do not notice the difference between “many Whites” and “all Whites” (sometimes not even when it is pointed out to them) and “all Whites” is way, way easier to knock down. But proving that “Not all Whites are X” does not disprove that “Many Whites are X.” Not all Whites were slave owners, for example, but many were.

Tips:

• Get the original argument from the horse’s mouth and understand it the way the horse does.
• Assume that those who oppose the argument will not get it (completely) right. So do not depend on their books or churches or television shows or media outlets or posts (!!!), etc – even if the horse appears there in quotes or video clips or guest appearances.

If you are being straw-manned:

• Politely point out the difference between your argument and the straw man argument, even if you suspect it was not an honest misunderstanding (do not assume the worst).
• Do not waste your breath trying to persuade bad-faith actors – just the audience (if there is one).
• Sometimes it is best to ignore a straw man argument.

– Abagond, 2019.

See also:

• examples
  • “not all Whites”; argument
  • “Whites are not uniquely evil”
  • open borders
• logical fallacies
  • ad hominem argument
  • The tone argument
  • The thief-thief technique
  • dichotomous thinking – either-or
• The seven levels of disagreement
• commenter
• Internet trolls

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