Sometimes when someone is having a ration discussion with another person, a statement can be said that can easy be changed to sound or mean something else. By misrepresenting what the person says, it can lead to confusion and then agreement. The book on page 91 states, “It’s easier to knock down someone’s argument if you misrepresent it…” which is exactly my example.
Lily: We should water the plants every day.
Rose: We water the plants every week. There is no point in watering it every day.
Lily: Are you saying you want our plants to die?
Rose: Are you saying you want to waste the earth’s precious water?
Rose and Lily argue about how many times a week they should water the plants. Lily thinks that Rose wants to kill the plants by watering them only once a week. Lily “put words in Rose’s mouth” and Rose did the same to Lily. Both Rose and Lily question each other to justify their arguments.
This type of argument is common in everyday discussions between two people. You pretty much try to justify what you are saying by rewording what the other is saying.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI really like the example that you used because it directly identifies what a straw man fallacy is just by reading the dialogue- by doing that it was clearer to identify Straw Man. I also like it because I’ve noticed that most people use this method to argue with others. By using this type of arguing style, it makes it harder to win an argument because it goes back and forth by using the person’s statement against the person’s self as well. One thing I also noticed about straw man is it somehow uses sarcasm, which you effectively showed on your example. All in all, great job! :)
I thought your example of watering plants was a perfect example of a trying to explain the Strawman Fallacy. I like how your example had two claims that both consisted of the strawman fallacy. Lily put words in Roses mouth and Lily responded to Roses claim with a counter argument that put words in Lily’s mouth as well. Both Lily and Rose weaken their arguments by the use of this fallacy. They also both go on tangents and completely stray away from the first point that they were trying to agree upon. As you said, this type of argument is an everyday type of thing that happens in discussions. If we avoid fallacies such as the strawman, than we could go about communicating and arguing effectively.
ReplyDeleteI also discussed a straw man fallacy in my post. You are right, this fallacy happens all the time in everyday conversation. Your example was clearly a straw man fallacy because Lily misinterprets what Rose is saying and then Rose does the same to Lily. Rose does not make any mention of wanting to kill the plants and Lily says nothing about wasting water. This type of fallacy is also common in debates because it makes it much easier to defeat your opponents argument. I have experienced many conversations that involve this type if fallacy. You did a great job clearly explaining the fallacy and your example was perfect.
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