Sadly, straw man arguments do not involve literal scarecrows. Rather, they are a type of fallacy: i.e. an argument that sounds convincing but contains hidden mistakes. But what exactly does a straw man argument involve? And how can you avoid them in your written work?
Building a ‘straw man’ implies constructing an idea that is easy to argue against rather than engaging with the real issue. This typically involves distorting your opponent’s ideas or beliefs to make it easier to refute them (even if you’re not ‘refuting’ their actual arguments).
For example, imagine an argument between Cheryl and Bob:
Cheryl: Parents have a responsibility to expose their kids to learning at home as well as at school.
Bob: Pedagogical theories that claim children don’t benefit from school are no use to anyone.
Bob’s argument here is a ‘straw man’ because he has misinterpreted what Cheryl was saying. And instead of responding to her suggestion that education can occur outside the classroom, he is arguing against something she never said: that children don’t benefit from school.
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Most straw man arguments are subtler than this. But they all involve misrepresenting someone to make it easier to win an argument.
It is possible to make a straw man argument without realising it. This can happen, for example, if we don’t fully understand something that we are arguing about in an essay.
As such, to avoid this fallacy in your work, you should always:
With the above in mind, you should be able to avoid making straw man arguments. And if you’d like help expressing yourself clearly in your writing, don’t forget to get your work proofread.
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