# A Strawman?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-strawman/165866>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 2, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-strawman/165866 "2003-04-02T02:53:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-strawman/165866/1 "2003-04-02T02:53:11Z")

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I’ve heard in debates, of using a strawman for your arguement/ position.  
What does this mean?

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**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-strawman/165866/2 "2003-04-02T02:55:58Z")

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From [Merriam-Webster Online](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary):

> [@](#):
>
> Main Entry: **straw man**  
> Function: _noun_  
> Date: 1896  
> **1 :** a weak or imaginary opposition (as an argument or adversary) set up only to be easily confuted  
> **2 :** a person set up to serve as a cover for a usually questionable transaction

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**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-strawman/165866/3 "2003-04-02T02:57:38Z")

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A straw man is an opposing view put forth, so that the person who put it forth can easily disprove it. It’s a way for someone trying to get their point across to make their opponent’s point(s) of view look foolish. The name comes from the fact that a man made out of straw would be easy to knock down. A similar term is “paper tiger.”

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-strawman/165866/4 "2003-04-02T02:57:51Z")

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> [@](#):
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> …strawman argument means that the person is using a false definition of the opponent’s views and attacking the false definition. An example would be someone who says atheism is wrong because it’s bad to worship the devil. Well, atheists don’t worship the devil, so obviously it’s a faulty argument.

From [this article](http://www.atheism.org/~godlessheathen/Reason2.html).

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-strawman/165866/5 "2003-04-02T03:04:12Z")

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Also:

[http://www.infidels.org/news/atheism/logic.html#strawman](http://www.infidels.org/news/atheism/logic.html#strawman)

> [@](#):
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> The straw man fallacy is when you misrepresent someone else’s position so that it can be attacked more easily, knock down that misrepresented position, then conclude that the original position has been demolished. It’s a fallacy because it fails to deal with the actual arguments that have been made.

Great web page, BTW. Bookmark it if you’re going to spend any time in Great Debates.