False dilemma

A false dilemma (also called false dichotomy, the either-or fallacy, fallacy of false choice, black-and-white thinking, or the fallacy of exhaustive hypotheses) is a type of logical fallacy that involves a situation in which only two alternatives are considered, when in fact there are additional options (sometimes shades of grey between the extremes). For example, "It wasn't medicine that cured Ms. X, so it must have been a miracle."

False dilemma can arise intentionally, when fallacy is used in an attempt to force a choice ("If you are not with us, you are against us"). But the fallacy can also arise simply by accidental omission of additional options rather than by deliberate deception (e.g., "I thought we were friends, but all my friends were at my apartment last night and you weren't there").^{[citation needed]}

In the community of philosophers and scholars, many believe that "unless a distinction can be made rigorous and precise it isn't really a distinction."^[1] An exception is analytic philosopher John Searle, who called it an incorrect assumption which produces false dichotomies.^[2] Searle insists that "it is a condition of the adequacy of a precise theory of an indeterminate phenomenon that it should precisely characterize that phenomenon as indeterminate; and a distinction is no less a distinction for allowing for a family of related, marginal, diverging cases."^[2] Similarly, when two alternatives are presented, they are often, though not always, two extreme points on some spectrum of possibilities; this can lend credence to the larger argument by giving the impression that the options are mutually exclusive, even though they need not be.^{[citation needed]} Furthermore, the options in false dichotomies are typically presented as being collectively exhaustive, in which case the fallacy can be overcome, or at least weakened, by considering other possibilities, or perhaps by considering a whole spectrum of possibilities, as in fuzzy logic.^{[citation needed]}

Examples

Morton's Fork

Morton's Fork, a choice between two equally unpleasant options, is often a false dilemma. The phrase originates from an argument for taxing English nobles:

Either the nobles of this country appear wealthy, in which case they can be taxed for good; or they appear poor, in which case they are living frugally and must have immense savings, which can be taxed for good.^[3]

This is a false dilemma and a catch-22, because it fails to allow for the possibility that some members of the nobility may in fact lack liquid assets as well as the probability that those who appear poor also lack liquid assets.

False choice

The presentation of a false choice often reflects a deliberate attempt to eliminate the middle ground on an issue. Eldridge Cleaver used such a quotation during his 1968 presidential campaign: "You're either part of the solution or part of the problem."^[4] An example would be the former US president George W. Bush stating that the world had a choice to make; "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."^[5] A common argument against noise pollution laws involves a false choice. It might be argued that in New York City noise should not be regulated, because if it were, the city would drastically change in a negative way. This argument involves assuming that, for example, a bar must be shut down for it to not cause disturbing levels of noise after midnight. This ignores the fact that the bar could simply lower its noise levels, and/or install more soundproof structural elements to keep the noise from excessively transmitting onto others' properties.

Black-and-white thinking

See also: Splitting (psychology)

In psychology, a related phenomenon to the false dilemma is black-and-white thinking. Many people routinely engage in black-and-white thinking, an example of which is feeling boundless optimism when things are going well and suddenly switching to total despair at the first setback. Another example is someone who labels other people as all good or all bad.^[6]

Falsum in uno, falsum in omnibus

The Latin phrase falsum in uno, falsum in omnibus which, roughly translated, means "false in one thing, false in everything", is fallacious in so far as someone found to be wrong about one thing, is presumed to be wrong about some other thing entirely.^[7] Arising in Roman courts, this principle meant that if a witness was proved false in some parts of his testimony, any further statements were also regarded as false unless they were independently corroborated. Falsus is thus a fallacy of logic. The description that an initial false statement is a prelude to the making of more false statements is false, however, even one false premise will suffice to disprove an argument. This is a special case of the associatory fallacy.

It must be noted that falsum in uno, falsum in omnibus status as a logical fallacy is independent of whether it is wise or unwise to use as a legal rule, with witnesses testifying in courts being held for perjury if part of their statements are false.

See also

Thinking portal

• Bivalence
• Correlative-based fallacies
• Degrees of truth
• Fuzzy logic
• Half-truth
• Hobson's choice
• Law of excluded middle
• Loaded question
• Love-hate relationship
• Multi-valued logic
• Nolan chart
• Nondualism
• Obscurantism
• Perspectivism
• Principle of bivalence
• Rogerian argument
• Sorites paradox
• Strange loop
• Two-party system
• Unreason

References

1. ^ Jacques Derrida (1991) Afterword: Toward An Ethic of Discussion, published in the English translation of Limited Inc., pp.123-4, 126
2. ^ ^{a b} Searle, John. (1983) The Word Turned Upside Down. The New York Review of Books, Volume 30, Number 16, October 27, 1983.
3. ^ Evans, Ivor H. (1989). Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, 14th edition, Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-016200-7.
4. ^ Yale Book of Quotations p158
5. ^ "Text Of The President's Speech". YC2.net. http://yc2.net/speech.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-29. 
6. ^ AJ Giannini. Use of fiction in therapy. Psychiatric Times. 18(7):56-57,2001.
7. ^ Lynch, Jack (2008). Deception and detection in eighteenth-century Britain. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 73.

External links

• The Black-or-White Fallacy entry in The Fallacy Files
• Article in Slate Magazine, showing how President Barack Obama uses the false dilemma fallacy