DILEMMA (Gr. &Xuua, a double proposition, from bi- and a(36.vetv)

This article appears in Volume V08, Page 271 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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DILEMMA (Gr. &Xuua, a double proposition, from bi- and a(36.vetv) , a

term

TERM

used technically in logic, and popularly in common parlance and

rhetoric

RHETORIC (Gr. psroperctj TEXvq, the art of the orator)

. (r) The latter use has no exact definition, but in general it describes a situation wherein from either of two (or more) possible alternatives an unsatisfactory conclusion results. The alternatives are called the " horns " of the dilemma. Thus a nation which has to choose between bankruptcy and the repudiation of its debts is on the horns of a dilemma. (2) In logic there is considerable divergence of

opinion

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

as to the best definition.

Whately

RICHARD
_1787_1863_.html">WHATELY,
RICHARD
(1787-1863)

defined it as " a conditional

syllogism

SYLLOGISM (Gr. ovAAoytvľos, from en', and Xb-yor, an
argument
- ARGUMENT
resulting from combination, i.e. of premises)

with two or more antecedents in the major and a disjunctive

minor

." Aulus Gellius gives an example as follows:" Women are either

fair

FAIR

or ugly; if you marry a

fair

FAIR

woman, she will attract other men; if an ugly woman she will not please you; therefore

marriage

MARRIAGE

is absurd." From either alternative, an unpleasant result follows. Four kinds of dilemma are admitted: (a) Simple Constructive: If A, then C; if B, then C, but either B or A; therefore C. (b) Simple Destructive: If A is true, B is true; if A is true, C is true; B and C are not both true; therefore A is not true. (c) Complex Constructive: If A, then B; if C, then D; but either A or C; therefore either B or D. (d) Complex Destructive: If A is true, B is true; if C is true, D is true; but B and D are not both true; hence A and C are not both true. The soundness of the dilemmatic

argument

ARGUMENT

in general depends on the alternative possibilities. Unless the alternatives produced exhaust the possibilities of the case, the conclusion is invalid. The logical form of the argument makes it especially valuable in public speaking, before uncritical audiences. It is, in fact, important rather as a rhetorcial subtlety than as a serious argument.
Dilemmist is also a

term

TERM

used to translate Vaibhashikas, the name of a Buddhist school of philosophy.

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