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Excluded Middle

Disciplines > Argument > Fallacies > Excluded Middle

Description | Discussion | Example | See also

Description

Only extreme views are valid.

Moderation is weak and uncertain. To be valid, an argument must have a clear opposite.

Ignore any central position. Polarize any issues and then select one end of the spectrum. Criticise any middle position as floppy and compromising, which by definition is only half of what could be had.

Example

Women who use Citro perfume will attract men. [Those who do not, will not.]

If we do not save the whales, the world is doomed.

I have an absolute right to carry a gun. Those who oppose that right deserve what they get.

Discussion

Where people have a high need for certainty and control, extreme views provide what may seem to be a defensible position, as you only need to look in one direction for the 'enemy'. Dividing the world into good and bad, right and wrong also plays to certainty needs, as your friends and enemies can now be clearly identified.

Classification

Also known as

False Dichotomy, Polarization, Black and White Thinking

See also

False Dilemma, False Compromise

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Site Menu

| Home | Top | Quick Links | Settings |

Main sections: | Disciplines | Techniques | Principles | Explanations | Theories |

Other sections: | Blog! | Quotes | Guest articles | Analysis | Books | Help |

More pages: | Contact | Caveat | About | Students | Webmasters | Awards | Guestbook | Feedback | Sitemap | Changes |

Settings: | Computer layout | Mobile layout | Small font | Medium font | Large font | Translate |

Please help and share:

Quick links

Disciplines

* Argument
* Brand management
* Change Management
* Coaching
* Communication
* Counseling
* Game Design
* Human Resources
* Job-finding
* Leadership
* Marketing
* Politics
* Propaganda
* Rhetoric
* Negotiation
* Psychoanalysis
* Sales
* Sociology
* Storytelling
* Teaching
* Warfare
* Workplace design

Techniques

* Assertiveness
* Body language
* Change techniques
* Closing techniques
* Conversation
* Confidence tricks
* Conversion
* Creative techniques
* General techniques
* Happiness
* Hypnotism
* Interrogation
* Language
* Listening
* Negotiation tactics
* Objection handling
* Propaganda
* Problem-solving
* Public speaking
* Questioning
* Using repetition
* Resisting persuasion
* Self-development
* Sequential requests
* Storytelling
* Stress Management
* Tipping
* Using humor
* Willpower

Principles

Explanations

* Behaviors
* Beliefs
* Brain stuff
* Conditioning
* Coping Mechanisms
* Critical Theory
* Culture
* Decisions
* Emotions
* Evolution
* Gender
* Games
* Groups
* Habit
* Identity
* Learning
* Meaning
* Memory
* Motivation
* Models
* Needs
* Personality
* Power
* Preferences
* Research
* Relationships
* SIFT Model
* Social Research
* Stress
* Trust
* Values

Theories

* Alphabetic list
* Theory types

And

– About
– Guest Articles
– Blog!
– Books
– Changes
– Contact
– Guestbook
– Quotes
– Students
– Webmasters

| Home | Top | Menu | Quick Links |

© Changing Works 2002-
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