Straw Man Fallacy

A straw man fallacy occurs when someone distorts or exaggerates another person’s argument, and then attacks the distorted version of the argument instead of genuinely engaging.

Person 1:

I think pollution from humans contributes to climate change.

Person 2:

So, you think humans are solely responsible for extreme weather? What about volcanoes? Are we to blame for those, too?

The comic below gives you a little insight into what this fallacy might look like. Join Captain Logic as he works to thwart the evil fallacies of Dr. Fallacy!

A comic about the straw man logical fallacy.

Image Transcript
Man pointing to a map of the Earth: Pollution from humans contributes to climate change because…

Dr. Fallacy: Oh, so you think humans are solely responsible for extreme weather? What about volcanoes? Are we to blame for those, too?

Straw man logical fallacy comic with the OWL Superhero.

Image Transcript
[Captain Logic Owl swooshes in.]

Captain Logic Owl: Stop right there, Doctor Fallacy! You’re distorting the argument using a Straw Man Fallacy!

Dr. Fallacy: Drat! Foiled again by logic! But, this will not be my final fallacy!!

In this example, you’ll notice how Dr. Fallacy completely distorted the speaker’s point. While this is an extreme example, it’s important to be careful not to fall into this kind of fallacy on a smaller scale because it’s quite easy to do. Think about times you may have even accidentally misrepresented the other side in an argument. We have to be careful to avoid even the accidental straw man fallacy!

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