Damning the Dilemma

There are three ways of handling a dilemma, but before we discuss them let us remind ourselves what a dilemma is. A dilemma supposedly offers you two alternately undersirable consequences. It is an argument having two premises and a conclusion.

If...S1...then S2...and if ...S3 then S4
S1 OR s3
__________________________
Therefore, S2 OR S4

The first way of answering a dilemma is to grasp one or the other horn. We do this by rejecting the truth of one or the other conditional statements (a conditional statement is a statement of the "if... then" form).

The second way of refuting a dilemma is to go between the horns, that is, to reject the second premise as not providing mutually exclusion alternatives.

The third way of rejecting a dilemma was a very effective rhetorical device to end a series of objections, so a counter-dilemma is a beautiful and effective way of dismissing the whole case of the opposition.

A simple change below provides a foolproof formula for constructing a counter-dilemma.

If...S1... then ...not-S4; and if ...S3... then, not-S2
S1 OR S3
___________________________________
Therefore, not-S4 OR not-S2

As you can see, the counter-dilemma gives two equally attractive with the same information supplied by the original dilemma. It is effective against an opponent not because it really says anything, but because it shows you to be much more clever.

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