"Mr. Quintal has argued that logic is not the most important thing in life.…
2023
"Mr. Quintal has argued that logic is not the most important thing in life. Apparently Mr. Quintal advocates irrationality. It has taken two million years for the human race to achieve the position that it has and Mr. Quintal would throw the whole thing into garbage."
Which fallacy is committed in this argument?
Answer: B. Strawman — CONCEPTA straw-man fallacy occurs when an argument replaces an opponent’s actual claim with a stronger, more extreme, or different claim and attacks that…
- A.
Slippery slope
- B.
Strawman
- C.
Red herring
- D.
Hasty generalization
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
CONCEPT
A straw-man fallacy occurs when an argument replaces an opponent’s actual claim with a stronger, more extreme, or different claim and attacks that substitute instead. The test is to compare exactly what the person asserted with what the reply attributes to that person.
APPLICATION
Mr. Quintal says only that logic is not the most important thing in life.
The reply changes this into the claims that he advocates irrationality and would discard the whole achievement of humanity, then attacks those stronger claims.
CONTRAST
Slippery slope predicts a chain of increasingly bad consequences without enough support for the links.
Red herring diverts attention to an irrelevant issue.
Hasty generalization draws a broad conclusion from too small or unrepresentative a sample.
RESULT
The argument commits the straw-man fallacy.