稻草人

Straw Man

The term straw man was coined by logicians to denote an argument without substance.

The term shares its meaning with the word scarecrow, a pile of straw stuffed in human clothing and placed in a garden or field to scare away birds.

To commit the error of straw man is to put false words in someone else’s mouth and then expose their falsity, conveniently forgetting that the other person never said them.

Suppose you are discussing with a friend whether the sale of assault weapons should be banned and the conversation goes as follows:

You:
I oppose any restriction on the sale of guns. It should make no difference whether we’re talking about a pistol,a rifle, a shotgun, or an assault weapon. A gun is a gun.And a constitutional right is a constitutional right.

Your friend:
You say it “should make no difference” what kind of gun is involved. I say it should make a difference because the guns you mentioned are very different from one another. Assault weapons are unlike other kinds of guns—they are not designed for hunting, or even for self-defense, but only for killing people, often indiscriminately. That’s why they should be banned.

You [feeling defensive because you realize your friend’s point will be difficult to answer]:
So you believe you should decide what weapons are acceptable and what weapons aren’t. It’s exactly this kind of arrogance by self-appointed social reformers that everyone who values the Constitution should fear.

You have committed the error of straw man. If your friend is alert, she will respond: “First you put irresponsible words in my mouth, and then you say I’m irresponsible. I’d prefer to hear your reaction to what I really said.”

To avoid straw man, be scrupulously accurate in quoting or paraphrasing other people’s words.

稻草人

“稻草人”这个词是逻辑学家创造出来的，用来表示没有实质内容的论点。

稻草人这个词和稻草人这个词的意思一样，稻草人是一堆稻草，塞在人的衣服里，放在花园或田野里吓跑鸟。

稻草人犯的错误就是把假话说到别人的嘴里，然后暴露他们的虚伪，很容易忘记别人从来没有说过这些话。

假设你正在和一个朋友讨论是否应该禁止销售攻击性武器，对话如下:

你:
我反对任何对枪支销售的限制。无论我们谈论的是手枪、步枪、猎枪还是攻击性武器，都没有区别。枪就是枪。宪法权利就是宪法权利。

你的朋友:
你说涉及到的这几种枪“都没有区别”。我认为这应该有所不同，因为你提到的枪支彼此之间差别很大。攻击性武器不同于其他类型的枪支——它们不是为打猎，甚至不是为自卫而设计的，而是用来杀人的，通常是不分青红皂白的。这就是为什么它们应该被禁止。

你：
(因为你意识到你朋友的观点很难回答而感到有戒心)
所以你认为你应该决定什么武器是可以接受的，什么武器是不能接受的。正是这种自我任命的社会改革家的傲慢，让每一个重视宪法的人都感到害怕。

你犯了稻草人的错误。如果你的朋友很警觉，她会回答:“首先，你先把不负责任的话说在我嘴里，然后，你说我不负责任。我更想听听你对我真正说过的话的回答。”

为了避免“稻草人”，在引用或转述别人的话时，要一丝不苟、准确无误。