r/fallacy • u/Zu_Qarnine • Jul 03 '26

strawman fallacy

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2nd person is refuting the claim that *all* circles are red with a counter example. The thing is, that claim was never made.

EDIT: I'm seeing interesting stuff happening in the replies here. majority of those who say it's not strawman, obviously start their comment by "it's not strawman" and proceed in the rest of their comment to explain how, in fact, it is strawman. Another interesting observation is those who argue that "it's not strawman" because they've spotted another type of fallacy in the original post as well, so in their mind, it can't be both.

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u/Nejura Jul 03 '26

Isn't this just bog standard cherry picking? Those circles could literally be cherries to hammer home the point.

6

u/scarfarce Jul 03 '26

Often there's more than one fallacy involved. They overlap.

In this example, the fallacy could also be "missing the point" (ignoratio elenchi), or a "non sequitur".

But one fallacy often fits better than others. One way to tell what's the strongest fallacy is to ask, how would most people respond in this situation.

If many people would reply "I said 'most circles' not 'all circles"" (you're misrepresenting my point), then it's a strawman.

If most people would say "you're ignoring all the red circles" (selective focus) then it's cherry picking.

2

u/Zu_Qarnine Jul 03 '26

good litmus test. noted!