Fallacy: False Dilemma
Also Known as: Black & White Thinking.
A False Dilemma is a fallacy in which a person uses the following
pattern of "reasoning":
This line of "reasoning" is fallacious because if both claims could
be false, then it cannot be inferred that one is true because the other
is false. That this is the case is made clear by the following example:
In cases in which the two options are, in fact, the only two options,
this line of reasoning is not fallacious. For example:
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Nizkor
© The Nizkor Project, 1991-2012
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Description of False Dilemma
Examples of False Dilemma
Senator Bill: "Why?"
Senator Jill: "Well, either we cut the social programs or we live with a huge deficit and we can't live with the deficit."
Jill: "Hey, I never said that!"
Bill: "You're not an atheist are you Jill?"