"An argument is a fallacy only if the premise is dubious and no other premises support the conclusion."( Epstein)
I picked the Strawman Fallacy to discuss on this blog. The name of this fallacy paints a clear picture as to what its intent is. Picture yourself about to fight someone. Then you build a person out of straw and you kick it, punch it, and ultimately destroy it. Then you say that you won that fight. The only problem is, the person you were supposed to fight, who is an actual human, and not made out of straw, is still standing there unharmed or untouched, and definitely not beaten. The purpose of using a straw man in an argument is to purposely misrepresent and weaken the position of your opponent. One may leave out key points or quote a person's word out of context. Basically you twist the other person's words and make them look bad.
An example of a strawman would be:
"Dad can we buy some of this juice?"
"No, put it back."
"Why can't we buy it? It has Vitamin C, and Vitamin B and it's good for you!"
" I said no, I'm not buying it."
" Why don't you care about my health, now I'm gonna get sick and die!"
In this dialogue between a child and their father, the child wants to buy juice and tries to convince his dad by saying that it's nutritious and healthy. When the dad refuses, the child claims that his dad doesn't care about his health. Although the dad never said he doesn't care about his son's health, the child is using a straw man to put his dad in a position where he is weak and quite possibly end up just buying the juice.
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