Fallacies Illustrated - False Dilemma

Draft for upcoming book.

False Dilemma – Asserting a given number of potential options that is lower than what is actually available. Most often this occurs with claiming there are only two options when there are more. The term false dichotomy is often used due to the prevalence of this version.
While “false dilemma” is a more accurate term, the author prefers “false dichotomy” because it sounds cooler.

False Dichotomies are often used by those suffering a scruples deficiency to make their preferred outcome seem the only reasonable option. Someone who wants higher taxes may claim the only options are to raise taxes or watch society collapse; ignoring the option to better manage the budget or that high taxes are a form of collapse anyway. (This example also overlaps with Poisoning the Well (ch.1 §1.4), but not all examples do)

False Dichotomies can also occur because the speaker simply didn’t think of the alternatives. This should not be taken as proof of idiocy as no one ever thinks of everything.

As the reader may have guessed from the reference to scruples deficiency above, this fallacy is quite popular among politicians.

Fallacy fallacy – It would not generally be a false dilemma if one disregards options that are theoretically possible, but wildly impractical. If someone is in a dispute with their local Home Owner’s Association (HOA), it would not be a false dilemma to disregard the possibility of creating a colony on Mars and living there instead. While this is theoretically possible, most people don’t have the time, money, expertise, or desire to do so. It would, however, be a false dilemma to disregard the correct solution for dealing with an HOA, which is horrific violence.

Editor’s note: The editor wishes to inform readers that horrific violence is not an appropriate response to an HOA dispute and is not generally an appropriate response in most situations. Doing so would also qualify as the fallacy Appeal to Force (ch. 3 §4), defeating the purpose of reading this book. Further, most states do not accept “the book told me to” as a legal defense.

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