Either You Are With Us Or You Are Against Us
* From “The A**HOLE’S Guide To Arguing (Or, How To Succeed In Politics)”
The black-or-white argument is one that offers two mutually exclusive extremes as options, leaving out everything in between. It is a false either-or scenario.
“Either you are with us, or you are against us.”
This is a line that warmongers love. It claims that you are either an ally or an enemy. In this argument there is no room for neutrality and no room for alternatives. It is A or Z, and all the other letters of the alphabet have been wiped out. Share on X
The logical response, which is to point out that the argument is false and that there are more options, may not get through to the opposition or to the listeners.
The higher the temperature of the debate is, the more likely you are to find this fallacy, and the more likely people are to accept it. Which means that your best bet might be to propose a false black-or-white argument of your own.
“So either we drop bombs on innocent women and children and call it collateral damage, or we don’t. “
The counter argument is just as invalid as the first, and it also contains an unfounded accusation. Still, it might be more effective than saying,
“Hold on a minute. War is nasty business. A lot of good people get hurt in a war as well, not just the bad guys. So before we make that decision, let us see what our other options are. We do not want to go to war unless it is absolutely necessary. And at present, I am not convinced that it is.”
Although this is a decent argument, and one that sounds perfectly fair and reasonable, in a high temperature debate with black-or-white thinkers and audiences, it may not succeed.
You see, we like the way that black-or-white arguments sound and make us feel. That the world is simple and predictable. That right and wrong can be easily separated, and that it is obvious which is which. Share on X
We do not like it when things get complicated. We get confused, and anxious about making a mistake.
That is why this fallacy is so easy to fall for, and so difficult to refute without resorting to the exact same fallacy.
© Merlyn Gabriel Miller
