CODEXCard 3 of 5 · The Art of Being Right, Five
Straw man argument (Reduce to Absurdity (Sometimes Falsely))
Push their claim to a point they didn't make.
A straw man argument replaces what someone actually said with a bigger, weaker version that is easy to attack. Schopenhauer opens his catalogue with this move, which he calls the extension. You take a careful statement, push it far beyond its intended limits, and then refute the inflated version as if it were the original.
It succeeds because audiences follow the drama, not the details. They see a claim being torn apart and assume the person who made the first statement has lost. The fact that nobody ever defended the extreme position gets lost along the way. The best defence is to restate your claim precisely, with its limits, and to keep it as narrow as you meant it.
There is a real limit to watch for. Not every challenge to the implications of your view is a straw man. Sometimes the other person has found a genuine consequence you had not considered, and that is useful. Crying straw man at every objection is its own way of avoiding the argument. Ask whether the extension follows from what you said, or only from a cartoon of it.
The honest opposite is often called steelmanning, stating the other side's view in its strongest form before you respond.
Example
At a family dinner someone suggests eating out less to save money. A sibling responds that apparently nobody is allowed to enjoy anything any more. The suggestion was about frequency, not banning restaurants. Restating it clearly, maybe twice a month instead of every weekend, takes the air out of the exaggeration and gets back to the budget.
Try it this week
When you feel your view has been exaggerated, restate it in one precise sentence that includes its limits, and ask if they disagree with that.
From The Art of Being Right, Five (Arthur Schopenhauer · 1831).
