Straw Man

A straw man, also known in the UK as an Aunt Sally, is a type of argument and is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by replacing it with a superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition (the "straw man"), and to refute it, without ever having actually refuted the original position.

Read more about Straw Man:  Origin, Structure, Examples

Famous quotes containing the words straw and/or man:

    Through tattered clothes great vices do appear;
    Robes and furred gowns hide all. Place sin with gold,
    And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks:
    Arm it in rags, a pigmy’s straw does pierce it.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    This man is quickened so with grief.
    He wanders god-like or like thief
    Inside and out, below, above,
    Without relief seeking lost love.
    Robert Graves (1895–1985)