Firmitas

Logical fallacy: False Dilemma


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© 2011-2019 by Zack Smith. All rights reserved.

False Dilemma

When a person uses False Dilemma, they're insisting on two proposition but no more and never both.

Its form
  • There are Propositions A and B.
  • Therefore either Proposition A is true or Proposition B is true but never both and never neither. And there are no other possible propositions.

Examples

Either oranges are animals, or oranges are rocks. But don't you try to tell me they're not either, mister!

Either you are a Liberal, or you are a Conservative, but you can't be neither.

Weaknesses

A false dilemma is just that, a false choice between two claims that ignores other options. You merely need point out that other valid claims may exist.

You can also attack the notion that both cannot be true and thta both cannot be false. All such beliefs have to be supported by the arguer.

You can identify reasons why the two propositions are unrelated and point out that the falsehood of one does not logically imply the truth of the other.

In addition, if the arguer is urgently trying to end the discussion before any other options are presented, demand to know why the rush.


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