![]() They present their case, present proposed changes and/or provide sufficient evidence to support their stance.Īfter this, the second person presents a twisted or distorted version of the first person’s original narrative. This can include opening statements, remarks, comments or facts. Generally, the use of the straw man fallacy consists of the following three steps:Īn individual begins by stating their position. What Is A Straw Man Argument?īefore we dip into some straw man fallacy examples, let’s understand the straw man fallacy in detail. The term is said to come from the idea of an imaginary man of straw or scarecrow who is seen as a weak adversary. When one attacks a twisted version of the opponent’s stance, they can be said to have committed a straw man fallacy. The person committing the straw man fallacy gives the impression of having dealt with an argument while actually not addressing its core aspects. The straw man fallacy is an argument that disturbs and twists the opposition’s stance to make it convenient to rebut. Putting words in the opponent’s mouth and deliberately twisting what they’ve said is an age-old tradition of presidential debates in the United States. ![]() This is an example of a straw man fallacy that’s common in US politics, especially in the run-up to elections. Have you been following the US elections? If you’ve heard any of the presidential debates, you’ve probably noticed how speakers distort and exaggerate their opponent’s argument to discredit the other side. ![]() People sometimes resort to rhetorical tricks to respond to their opponents. Especially when there’s a lot at stake for both parties. Hopefully, with adamant thought, fallacies in memes and in other forms of rhetorical appeals won’t be so easy to believe.Winning an argument is important but it can sometimes be difficult. It is easy to say that illogical arguments can’t be taken seriously, but often many ideas are deemed to be credible just because of their humor or emotional relevance. Crucifixion does not have to derive from a simple piece of jewelry.īy critically analyzing these two memes, the fallacies in their arguments can be seen clearly. The media might mistreat Kanye, but maybe it’s because of his celebrity status, his relationships with women, or influence in music. This fallacy is known as Post Hoc because it makes a cause and effect relationship between two events that aren’t necessarily related. Kanye flaunts his gold chain with a cross hanging from the bottom, and says that his treatment from the media is caused by this “Jesus Piece”. Kanye West often puts himself in awkward predicaments with the media, like in Figure 2. It is hard for anyone to take a wealthy celebrity’s struggle seriously, especially if that particular struggle is supposedly caused by only one exclusive source that is somewhat unbelievable. Kanye West often plays the victim to mainstream media, and views himself as a Christ-like figure in some of his work. Kendrick’s ability compared to Hopsin has nothing to do with whether or not he changed rap or not Kendrick’s work in rap music is completely independent of anything involving Hopsin’s talent. Notice Hopsin starts out by introducing Kendrick’s influence in rap as a whole, then goes on to compare himself to Kendrick based on ability. The primary fallacy that is used is Red Herring, which diverts attention from a previous topic of discussion to something of a tangent. Although nonsensical, this type of fallacy, known as Ad Hominem, is easy to use because it attacks character without confronting the secondary topic at hand which in this case involves Hopsin being better than Kendrick. ![]() In Figure 1., He acknowledges that Kendrick Lamar, a rising mainstream icon, changed rap music, but then goes on to devalue his worth as a rapper because he is short. Hopsin, seen by many as a radical pioneer and extremist in rap music, often says absurd remarks in order to get a reaction but ultimately holds little merit. Sometimes arrogance leads others to make claims that simply attack the opposing party based on character while not addressing the true topic at hand. Hopsin, a popular horrorcore rapper, frequently demeans other contemporaries in his music. Each argument, with simple thought and reasoning, can be deconstructed, proven to be illogical, and help provide a template in debasing other common fallacies in similar memes online. In order to better recognize some of these fallacies, I decided to create some of my own memes that while hilarious and controversial in their ideas, use common fallacies as the basis for their arguments. Often, these rhetorical devices make thought provoking claims, but succumb to unintended logical fallacies that limit their effectiveness and overall meaning. Memes are ways for people to create brief arguments using pictures and words simultaneously.
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