What is a straw man?

What is a straw man and what are some examples of them? I have know idea what ppl are talking about when they say this.

Hello, messenjaH!
Here is one definition of a strawman:a weak or imaginary opposition (as an argument or adversary) set up only to be easily confuted.Example Straw Man: Let's pretend that I think that the Federation from StarTrek is disrespectful to local cultures. I attempt to prove this by arguing that Captain Kirk is often disrespectful to local cultures. But this is a Straw Man; the example itself may be true, but it's a distraction from the larger issue, and doesn't (necessarily) map onto the entire Federation.

Actually I think that's the Fallacy of Composition, isn't it? Or Improper Generalization, or something?A straw man would be more like "Ladies and Gentlemen, Messenjah would have you believe that all Muslims are terrorists. Since this is obviously not so, we can conclude that Messenjah is not to be trusted."Your response, Messenjah, is obviously that you have never made such a statement, and you're quite right. I've set up a straw man, given it your name, and knocked it down, in an attempt to make you look bad.Other examples would be claiming that the Theory of Evolution says things that it actually does not. This is where it usually comes up on the board.

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Other examples would be claiming that the Theory of Evolution says things that it actually does not. This is where it usually comes up on the board.

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An example occasionally seen:"Evolution says that man evolved from monkeys, and there are still monkeys around, so evolution must be wrong."

You're all saying a straw man is only used when someone makes up some information about an opposing argument and then knocks it down. You're all obviously wrong because focusing on one very weak point of an argument and refuting that is also straw man.You three obviously don't know about logical fallacies as shown by your incomplete grasp of a straw man argument.

LOL, Theo. You must have read Godel, Escher and Bach. Good work!

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You're all obviously wrong because focusing on one very weak point of an argument and refuting that is also straw man.

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Depends on the point. If the point is one of several parallel lines of reasoning, it would be fallacious to refute one line and claim that all are therefore invalid. This is what I assume you mean. Unscrewing a light wired into a parallel circuit does not turn off other lights in the circuit. If the weak point is a link in one line of reasoning, refuting it does bring that whole line toppling down-- unless, of course, it can be replaced with something else.

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You three obviously don't know about logical fallacies as shown by your incomplete grasp of a straw man argument.

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It is arguable that representing a weak point as the crux of an argument constitutes distorting the argument. This brings the whole thing under the umbrella of the straw man formulation you are criticising. The only substitution needed would be the replacing of 'make up' with 'distort' which more accurately reflects what people have said, so it seem to me.------------------
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Isn't that a straw man ?

I'm not sure that you're example is a 'straw man' ....
besides Captain Kirk has never been disrespectful to
local inhabitants!!!

Peter writes:

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besides Captain Kirk has never been disrespectful to
local inhabitants!!!

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Does he call? Does he write? Send flowers? Anything?No, he just pulls on his boots and swaggers out the door. How many "Star Trek babies" does it take before the Federation does something about that warp-driven gland?

No this is a strawman...and it is pretty easy to win debates against him I tell ya

No problem...Starfleet hired a hitman to take him and "Bones" out..

He's nowhere near as bad as Picard, Mr. "Violate the Prime Directive when it suits me to do so, and follow it to the letter where it doesn't really apply". Then again, to paraphrase somebody, "he's not bad, he's just drawn that way." I've always maintained that Star Trek (yes, all of 'em) is a series that has suffered from atrocious writing. Now Stargate SG-1, there's some meaty sci-fi!

I think that was the idea....

Nothing stacks up to Farscape, which has been cancelled, except Babylon 5-- the epic saga to end all epic sagas ( screw Homer ). It too, is no longer on the air. The sci-fi channel's 'Dune' and 'Children of Dune' are quite good as well, but those are mini-series. I have great hopes for 'Battlestar Galactica.' ------------------
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