ABSTRACT
Fallacies are violations of the rules for critical discussion that prevent or hinder the resolution of a difference of opinion. When evaluating argumentative discourse, fallacies in thedis-course must be detected. To resolve a difference of opinion, a person who puts forward a standpoint must be prepared to defend this standpoint, and a person who calls a standpoint into question must be prepared to assume the role of antagonist. The original standpoint can be misrepresented, or a fictitious standpoint can be attributed to the opponent. Parties who misrepresent the opponent's standpoint or attribute a fictitious standpoint to him or her commit the fallacy of the straw man. Irrelevant argumentation, in fact, defends a standpoint that is not the standpoint that caused the difference of opinion. In addition to the rhetorical means of persuasion pathos, a protagonist may also make use of ethos.
