Fallacy: Straw Man
Logical Fallacy: Straw Man
Straw man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fallacies [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
The fallacy is imputing an argument to someone that isn't his, and then refuting it.
One needs to be wary of reading too much into someone's remarks; opponents may even deliberately misinterpret those remarks for the sake of rhetorical effectiveness with the audience.
The fallacy is not the same as debating an imaginary opponent to illustrate a point, so long as one is not falsely attributing the argument to anyone participating in the debate. It is also not the same as drawing out an implication from the premises that are accepted by the other side--but one should demonstrate that this is what logically obtains, if the other side does not realize it.
One must take care in identifying fallacies. As in all arguments, one should support one's point; in this case by showing how the argument is a fallacy, rather than resorting to mere assertion based on one's own authority.
When I was at Christendom one of the professors told us to avoid talking of "isms." I might elaborate on that advice some time in connection with the transformation of academic philosophy into genealogy. (I haven't tired of that critique yet.)
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