01x10 - Two Other Fallacies: Straw Man And Leading Question

Описание: Welcome to Fast Philosophy. This video is part of our Introduction To Logic series and explains two other fallacies: straw man and leading question.
The straw man fallacy is where someone represents a version of the argument they are arguing against in a way which misrepresents their opponent's argument, either by obscuring their opponent's argument or by reducing it to absurdity. For example, if my opponent argued:
P1 Bananas are good for your health
P2 Whatever is good for your health should be consumed
C Bananas should be consumed
And if I replied: 'My opponent wants us to abolish the treat of chocolate and only eat bananas for breakfast, dinner and tea', then I would be committing a straw man fallacy. Straw man fallacies are a form of uncharitable argument. When something is uncharitable, it is misrepresentative.
The leading question fallacy is where someone offers two or more options as if they were the only ones available when there are actually more options available. English director Alfred Hitchcock was fond of asking, 'Did you wash the blood off the knife?' which, in ordinary grammar, allows only a 'yes' or 'no' answer, either of which imply that the answerer had a bloody knife. We can also find examples of the leading question fallacy in political debate. Someone may fallaciously say, 'Do you want pensioners to have free bus passes or do you want them to be cold in the winter?' But while these are not the only options that are open, this is an example of the leading question fallacy.