We are sometimes faced with a number of possible views or courses of action. By a process of elimination, we may be able to eliminate these options one-by-one until only one is left. We are then forced to accept the only remaining option. Arguments that do this, but fail to consider all of the possible options, excluding some at the outset, commit the restricting the options fallacy.

Example

“Many gifted children from working class backgrounds are let down by the education system in this country. Parents have a choice between paying sky-high fees to send their children to private schools, and the more affordable option of sending their children to inferior state schools. Parents who can’t afford to pay private school fees are left with state schools as the only option. This means that children with great potential are left languishing in comprehensives“.

Quite apart from any problems with the blanket dismissal of all comprehensives as inferior, this argument fails to take into account all of the options available to parents. For the brightest students, scholarships are available to make private school more affordable, so there is a third option not considered above: applying for scholarships to private schools. Unless this option can be eliminated, e.g. by arguing that there are too few scholarships for all gifted children to benefit from them, along with other options such as homeschooling, the conclusion that children with great potential have no alternative but to go to comprehensives is unproven.

Links

• Brian Yoder’s Fallacy Zoo - False Dilemma
• Fallacy Files - Black or White Fallacy
• Logical Fallacies .Info - False Dilemma
• Michael LaBossiere’s Fallacies Introduction - False Dilemma

Case-Studies

• The Need for Speed Cameras
• Starbucks not to Blame for Low Cost Coffee Beans?
• Super-Sized Stars Need Bringing Down a Leg or Two
• The Madness of John Lennon