False dilemma

Overview

A false dilemma is an argument "in which two alternative points of view are held to be the only options" when in fact other reasonable options are available.

The false dilemma is often used as a manipulative tool by claiming that the "only other choice" is something which is obviously unreasonable, unpleasant, or unpalatable. The technique is usually used to persuade its audience of a viewpoint that is some distance from a reasonable, "middle ground" solution; the arguer generally wants the audience to dismiss the possibility of a "middle ground" which they might otherwise agree with.

False dilemma arguers will sometimes take steps to prevent any middle-ground choices from being feasible, thus combining the false dilemma with an argument by fiat and/or an argument by force.

Also known as: false dichotomy, all-or-nothing choice, monochrome thinking, either-or dichotomy, ignoring the moderate, ignoring the middle, choice between extremes

Examples

• The phrase "You're either with us, or you're against us.", often used by George W. Bush and his supporters
• "You're either part of the solution, or you're part of the problem."

All Cretans...

One of the most popular philosophical conundrums, the Epimenides paradox, can be resolved by realizing that it is a false dilemma. Epimenides, a Cretan, says "All Cretans are liars." Is he telling the truth?

According to his own testimony, he is a liar – which must mean that whatever he says is a lie, and therefore his statement about Cretans is a lie, and Cretans are not liars – which would mean that Epimenides, a Cretan, was not a liar – which means he must be lying about Cretans being all liars (because he's one of them and he's telling the truth), which makes him a liar, in which case he's right about Cretans...

The problem is that this is too easily framed as a false dilemma where you have only two choices – either

• all Cretans are liars, in which case Epimenides's claim about Cretans is also a lie, so Cretans must not be liars after all (paradox!)

or else

• all Cretans are not liars, in which case Epimenides is telling the truth, which leads back to the conclusion that all Cretans must be liars because Epimenides says so (paradox!)

The resolution is that there are other possibilities:

• Epimenides is lying – only some Cretans are liars, and he is one of them.
• Epimenides is only exaggerating, not lying; only some Cretans are liars, and he isn't one of them.
• People who are "liars" sometimes tell the truth, and Epimenides (although generally a liar) is doing so in this case.

Note that subtle changes in the definition of "liar" (does "exaggeration" qualify as "lying"? is someone who lies a lot but sometimes tells the truth still a "liar"?) leads to rather different conclusions about Epimenides and/or Cretans. This is why it is important to remember that the map is not the territory – i.e. the statements of fact that we make about a situation may be wrong in subtle ways which dramatically affect the conclusion. Using a word like "liars" to describe a situation makes it very easy to think that one accurately understands the situation and hence is aware of all the possible choices.

Related

• In cognitive therapy [W], the false dilemma is called "all-or-nothing thinking" or "black-and-white thinking" and is a form of cognitive distortion [W], i.e. a bad habit-of-thought to be overcome due to its ability to prevent sane, moderate choices from being made.

Reference

• Wikipedia