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Which of the following statements represents a straw man fallacy?

a) A chess champion like me should naturally be mayor.
b) Everyone is wearing that jacket, so it must be cool.
c) Anyone who agrees with my opponent is a witch.
d) People who hate riding the bus must love traffic.

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The statement 'Anyone who agrees with my opponent is a witch' is an example of a straw man fallacy, where an opponent's position is misrepresented and then attacked.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that represents a straw man fallacy is: c) Anyone who agrees with my opponent is a witch. In a straw man fallacy, an arguer creates a distorted or exaggerated version of an opponent's position and then attacks this misrepresented version to undermine the opponent's actual argument. The statement about anyone agreeing with the opponent being a witch misrepresents the opposition's stance and attacks a fabricated extreme viewpoint that is easier to argue against than the original position.

The bandwagon fallacy is a different fallacy where the argument is made that one ought to do something simply because many other people are doing it, implying popularity as a form of validation for an action or belief. An example would be claiming that 7 a.m. classes are unpopular and should start later because everyone believes so, therefore you should also support this idea. This type of fallacy leans on the cognitive bias of wanting to conform with the majority, rather than examining the merits of the argument itself.

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