(5.3)--supplementarymaterial3strawman.pdf

Straw man Definition:Definition:One way of making our own arguments stronger is to anticipate and respond in advance to the arguments that an opponent might make.In the straw man fallacy,the arguer sets up a weak version of the opponents position and tries to score points by knocking it down.But just as being able to knock down a straw man(like a scarecrow)isnt very impressive,defeating a watered-down version of your opponents argument isnt very impressive either.Example:Example:“Feminists want to ban all pornography and punish everyone who looks at it!But such harsh measures are surely inappropriate,so the feminists are wrong:porn and its fans should be left in peace.”The feminist argument is made weak by being overstated.In fact,most feminists do not propose an outright“ban”on porn or any punishment for those who merely view it or approve of it;often,they propose some restrictions on particular things like child porn,or propose to allow people who are hurt by porn to sue publishers and producersnot viewersfor damages.So the arguer hasnt really scored any points;he or she has just committed a fallacy.Tip:Tip:Be charitable to your opponents.State their arguments as strongly,accurately,and sympathetically as possible.If you can knock down even the best version of an opponents argument,then youve really accomplished something.Works consulted We consulted these works while writing this handout.This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handouts topic,and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic.Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list,as it may not match the citation style you are using.For guidance on formatting citations,please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.Hurley,Patrick J.A Concise Introduction to Logic.Thornson Learning,2000 Lunsford,Andrea and John Ruszkiewicz.Everythings an Argument.Bedford Books,1998.Copi,Irving M.and Carl Cohen.Introduction to Logic.Prentice Hall,1998.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License.You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source:The Writing Center,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill