Almost everyone has used a fallacy in their favor-whether it be to make someone feel guilty for doing or not doing something or just to get your point/argument across to make it seem like you're right and the other person's wrong. In some cases, it's common to be irrational when expressing a fallacy. A good example would be Strawman. Basically, what it means is turning the tables on the other person and acting irrational. You can either use the other person's words against them or put words in their mouth, making it seem that they're the bad guy(s). By doing this, the other person finds that he or she has to defend himself or herself because of the way you're "attacking" them.
An example of the Strawman would be a girl who wants to hang out with her boyfriend but he's too tired from work to hang out. Using a fallacy, she would say something like, "Okay, fine, then you don't have to see me this whole week since you're tired from work." By saying this, she not only uses her boyfriend's words against him but she acts irrational when in reality, people do get tired. Just because he was too tired to hang out doesn't mean she can act immaturely and selfishly or that he doesn't want to see her at all. By the way, this example is NOT of me-I've actually seen some of my friends act like this, haha. I guess nowadays, girlfriends act more psycho than they should.
I think this blog was very well written and easy to understand. This was very concise and to the point. I like the fact that you mentioned that although "fallacy" sounds like a fancy word, pretty much everyone has used one in their daily lives. It doesn't have to be just in class, but like you said something so common as to make someone feel guilty. The strawman is also one of the more common fallacies, as well, and I'm sure many people can relate to it. The example you gave also makes it a lot easier for people to understand if they didn't get it before.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your response on violating the principle of rational discussion. I like how you defined strawman. I think you made it very clear and made it easy to understand as well. I like how you mentioned that the person finds he or she defending themselves by the way the other person is coming at them with the situation. I like your example of strawman. I like how your example was well detailed. I agree with your example. The girlfriend uses attitude to make her boyfriend feel guilty. Overall, I think your blog of violating the principle of rational discussion was well written.
ReplyDeleteHi NDSJ91! I really liked reading your blog post because you made it really easy to understand. You did a good job of explaining "Stawman" in your own words. I agree that everybody has probably used "Stawman" in order to get their point across in an argument even though it doesn't make a great argument. Your example of "Strawman" was good too because I'm sure many people can relate to this situation of either being the receiving end or initiating the argument. You are right that the girlfriend is putting words in her boyfriend's mouth by trying to make him feel guilty about not hanging out with her.
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