

Various inferential schemes are associated with false dilemmas, for example, the constructive dilemma, the destructive dilemma or the disjunctive syllogism. One of the options excluded is that Stacey may be neither communist nor capitalist.įalse dilemmas often have the form of treating two contraries, which may both be false, as contradictories, of which one is necessarily true. This disjunction is problematic because it oversimplifies the choice by excluding viable alternatives, presenting the viewer with only two absolute choices when in fact, there could be many.įor example, a false dilemma is committed when it is claimed that "Stacey spoke out against capitalism therefore, she must be a communist". This premise has the form of a disjunctive claim: it asserts that one among a number of alternatives must be true.

The source of the fallacy lies not in an invalid form of inference but in a false premise. Send us feedback about these examples.Informal fallacy involving falsely limited alternatives Young America's dilemma: Shall I be wise and great, or rich and powerful? (poster from 1901)Ī 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. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'elucidate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. 2023 The implication here is that personality may be like height or I.Q., having a genetic component, but not one whose genetic architecture is easy to elucidate with current methods. 2023 Nesvold elucidates numerous ways space settlement can repeat the mistakes of colonialism, labor exploitation primary among them. Viviane Callier, Scientific American, How much this elucidates the music is open to debate, but Sibelius proceeds from a somber cello solo (exquisitely played by Christopher Adkins) through contrasts of busy sonic swirls and eddies and great brassy slabs of sound. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 17 July 2023 To elucidate the relationships at the base of the animal tree, the researchers assembled sequences of each chromosome for the comb jelly Bolinopsis microptera, two deep-sea sponges and three unicellular relatives of animals: a choanoflagellate, an ichthyosporean and a filasterean amoeba. Johnson, Anchorage Daily News, 6 June 2023 This also hopefully elucidates why some assert that the use of generative AI for data science is going to democratize data science. Barbara Spindel, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 July 2023 The researchers hoped to recover enough samples to help elucidate how chemical reactions between mantle rocks and water could have given rise to life on our planet. Cathy Cassata, Health, 28 July 2023 The author chronicles that history in three meaty sections, which elucidate emerging Enlightenment conceptions of each of the three ideals. Recent Examples on the Web Why an increased speed of movement positively impacts memory function is unknown and future research should attempt to elucidate this relationship, noted Garo-Pascual.
