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A dilemma ( grc-gre, δίλημμα "double
proposition In logic and linguistics, a proposition is the meaning of a declarative sentence. In philosophy, " meaning" is understood to be a non-linguistic entity which is shared by all sentences with the same meaning. Equivalently, a proposition is the no ...
") is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable. The possibilities are termed the ''horns'' of the dilemma, a
cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...
d usage, but distinguishing the dilemma from other kinds of predicament as a matter of usage.


Terminology

The term ''dilemma'' is attributed by Gabriel Nuchelmans to
Lorenzo Valla Lorenzo Valla (; also Latinized as Laurentius; 14071 August 1457) was an Italian Renaissance humanist, rhetorician, educator, scholar, and Catholic priest. He is best known for his historical-critical textual analysis that proved that the ''Don ...
in the 15th century, in later versions of his logic text traditionally called ''Dialectica''. Valla claimed that it was the appropriate Latin equivalent of the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
''dilemmaton''. Nuchelmans argued that his probable source was a logic text of c.1433 of
George of Trebizond George of Trebizond ( el, Γεώργιος Τραπεζούντιος; 1395–1486) was a Byzantine Greek philosopher, scholar, and humanist. Life He was born on the Greek island of Crete (then a Venetian colony known as the Kingdom of Candia), a ...
. He also concluded that Valla had reintroduced to the Latin West a type of argument that had fallen into disuse. Valla's
neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...
did not immediately take hold, preference being given to the established Latin term ''complexio'', used by
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
, with ''conversio'' applied to the upsetting of dilemmatic reasoning. With the support of
Juan Luis Vives Juan Luis Vives March ( la, Joannes Lodovicus Vives, lit=Juan Luis Vives; ca, Joan Lluís Vives i March; nl, Jan Ludovicus Vives; 6 March 6 May 1540) was a Spanish (Valencian) scholar and Renaissance humanist who ...
, however, ''dilemma'' was widely applied by the end of the 16th century. In the form "you must accept either A, or B" — here A and B are propositions each leading to some further conclusion — and applied incorrectly, the dilemma constitutes a
false dichotomy A false dilemma, also referred to as false dichotomy or false binary, is an informal fallacy based on a premise that erroneously limits what options are available. The source of the fallacy lies not in an invalid form of inference but in a false ...
, that is, a
fallacy A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning, or "wrong moves," in the construction of an argument which may appear stronger than it really is if the fallacy is not spotted. The term in the Western intellectual tradition was intr ...
. Traditional usage distinguished the dilemma as a "horned syllogism" from the
sophism A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...
that attracted the Latin name ''cornutus''. The original use of the word ''horns'' in English has been attributed to Nicholas Udall in his 1548 book ''Paraphrases'', translating from the Latin term ''cornuta interrogatio''.


Dilemmatic arguments

The dilemma is sometimes used as a
rhetorical device In rhetoric, a rhetorical device, persuasive device, or stylistic device is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading them towards considering a topic from a perspective, ...
. Its isolation as textbook material has been attributed to
Hermogenes of Tarsus Hermogenes of Tarsus ( grc-gre, Ἑρμογένης ὁ Ταρσεύς) was a Greek rhetorician, surnamed The Polisher (). He flourished in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161–180). Life and work His precocious ability secured him a public ap ...
in his work ''On Invention''.
C. S. Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism". Educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for t ...
gave a definition of ''dilemmatic argument'' as any argument relying on
excluded middle In logic, the law of excluded middle (or the principle of excluded middle) states that for every proposition, either this proposition or its negation is true. It is one of the so-called three laws of thought, along with the law of noncontradi ...
.


In logic

In
propositional logic Propositional calculus is a branch of logic. It is also called propositional logic, statement logic, sentential calculus, sentential logic, or sometimes zeroth-order logic. It deals with propositions (which can be true or false) and relations b ...
, ''dilemma'' is applied to a group of
rules of inference In the philosophy of logic, a rule of inference, inference rule or transformation rule is a logical form consisting of a function which takes premises, analyzes their syntax, and returns a conclusion (or conclusions). For example, the rule of in ...
, which are in themselves valid rather than fallacious. They each have three premises, and include the
constructive dilemma Constructive dilemmaCopi and Cohen is a valid rule of inference of propositional logic. It is the inference that, if ''P'' implies ''Q'' and ''R'' implies ''S'' and either ''P'' or ''R'' is true, then either ''Q or S'' has to be true. In sum, i ...
and
destructive dilemma Destructive dilemmaMoore and Parker is the name of a valid rule of inference of propositional logic. It is the inference that, if ''P'' implies ''Q'' and ''R'' implies ''S'' and either ''Q'' is false or ''S'' is false, then either ''P'' or ''R' ...
. Such arguments can be refuted by showing that the disjunctive premise — the "horns of the dilemma" — does not in fact hold, because it presents a false dichotomy. You are asked to accept "A or B", but counter by showing that is not all. Successfully undermining that premise is called "escaping through the horns of the dilemma".


In philosophy

Dilemmatic reasoning has been attributed to Melissus of Samos, a
Presocratic Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of thes ...
philosopher whose works survive in fragmentary form, making the origins of the technique in philosophy imponderable. It was established with
Diodorus Cronus Diodorus Cronus ( el, Διόδωρος Κρόνος; died c. 284 BC) was a Greek philosopher and dialectician connected to the Megarian school. He was most notable for logic innovations, including his master argument formulated in response to A ...
(died c. 284 BCE). The paradoxes of
Zeno of Elea Zeno of Elea (; grc, Ζήνων ὁ Ἐλεᾱ́της; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of Magna Graecia and a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides. Aristotle called him the inventor of the dialectic. He is best known fo ...
were reported by
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
in dilemma form, but that may have been to conform with what
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
said about Zeno's style.


Moral and ethical dilemmas

In cases where two
moral principle Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and Social actions, actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from ...
s appear to be inconsistent, an actor confronts a dilemma in terms of which principle to follow. This kind of moral case study is attributed to
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
, in book III of his ''
De Officiis ''De Officiis'' (''On Duties'' or ''On Obligations'') is a political and ethical treatise by the Roman orator, philosopher, and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero written in 44 BC. The treatise is divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds h ...
''. In the Christian tradition of
casuistry In ethics, casuistry ( ) is a process of reasoning that seeks to resolve moral problems by extracting or extending theoretical rules from a particular case, and reapplying those rules to new instances. This method occurs in applied ethics and ju ...
, an approach to abstract ranking of principles introduced by
Bartolomé de Medina Bartolomé may refer to: Places * Bartolomé Island (Spanish: Isla Bartolomé), a volcanic islet in the Galápagos Islands Group * Isla Bartolomé, Diego Ramirez Islands, Chile People * Bartolomé Bermejo (c.1440–c.1501), Spanish painter * Barto ...
in the 16th century became tainted with the accusation of
laxism In Catholic moral theology, probabilism provides a way of answering the question about what to do when one does not know what to do. Probabilism proposes that one can follow an authoritative opinion regarding whether an act may be performed moral ...
, as did casuistry itself. Another approach, with legal roots, is to lay emphasis on particular features present in a given case: in other words, the exact framing of the dilemma.


In law

In law, Valentin Jeutner has argued that the term "legal dilemma" could be used as a term-of-art, to describe a situation where a legal subject is confronted with two or more legal norms that the legal subject cannot simultaneously comply with. Examples include contradictory contracts where one clause directly negates another clause, or conflicts between fundamental (e.g.
constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...
) legal norms. Leibniz's 1666 doctoral dissertation ''De casibus perplexis'' (Perplexing Cases) is an early study of contradictory legal conditions. In domestic law, it has been argued that the
German Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court (german: link=no, Bundesverfassungsgericht ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inc ...
confronted a legal dilemma when determining, in connection with proceedings relating to the German Aviation Security Act, whether a government official could intentionally kill innocent civilians by shooting down a hijacked airplane that would otherwise have crashed into a football stadium, killing tens of thousands. In international law, it has been suggested that the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
confronted a legal dilemma in its 1996 Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion. It was faced with the question whether, in an extreme circumstance of self-defence, it is a state's right to
self-defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...
or international law's general prohibition of
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s that should take priority.Jeutner, Valentin (2017)
Irresolvable Norm Conflicts in International Law: The Concept of a Legal Dilemma
Oxford University Press, p. 10-11.


See also

* *


References


External links

* {{Authority control Arguments Concepts in logic Rhetoric