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==Straw Man== | ==Straw Man== | ||
A fallacy is an argument or belief based on erroneous reasoning, usually designed to attack or [[Gaslighting|gaslight]] an opponent. Straw man is one type of logical fallacy. Straw man occurs when someone argues that a person holds a view that is actually not what the other person believes. Instead, it is a distorted version of what the person believes. So, instead of attacking the person's actual statement or belief, it is the distorted version that is attacked, when the targeted person never made the statement to begin with. <ref>[http://www.softschools.com/examples/fallacies/straw_man_examples/496/ Straw Man Fallacy]</ref> | A fallacy is an argument or belief based on erroneous reasoning, usually designed to attack or [[Gaslighting|gaslight]] an opponent. Straw man is one type of logical fallacy. Straw man occurs when someone argues that a person holds a view that is actually not what the other person believes. Instead, it is a distorted version of what the person believes. So, instead of attacking the person's actual statement or belief, it is the distorted version that is attacked, when the targeted person never made the statement to begin with. The basic assumption is that if one small part of an argument can be proved false then, by association, the whole argument is also false. A weak argument is one made of straw that is easily knocked over. Hence the term straw man. <ref>[http://www.softschools.com/examples/fallacies/straw_man_examples/496/ Straw Man Fallacy]</ref> | ||
==Fallacy== | ==Fallacy== |