I’ve read the definition, I’ve tried to figure it out, I feel so stupid.
In: 1656
There are a number of answers here that I don’t think quite capture the nuance of a strawman fallacy. It’s not that you’re arguing against a “fake” view, or incorrect interpretation of someone’s argument, but it’s when you argue against a specific caricature, or extreme version, of the argument. These typically focus on a corner-case or exception that the original statement, if interpretted charitably, would have excluded.
You argue against an example that is very easy to argue against, and trying to use that to invalidate the entire argument.
As an example, lets imagine I make an arguement that people with criminal records should not be discriminated against when it comes to getting jobs when they are out of prison. My argument is that after release, the person has paid their debt to society, should not continue to be punished, and rejecting them from jobs and opportunities based on their past creates a feedback cycle that leads to recidivism.
Now, you come back and say “It is completely ridiculous that someone convicted of embezzlement should be allowed to get a job as a CFO of a public company. They have proven that they cannot be trusted, and allowing them to have that job puts the entire company at risk.”
Now, *obviously* the come back is correct, but it’s arguing against an extreme corner-case, and not the actual argument that was being made.
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