Thoughts to you from yours truly - ( 56 ) - Feb., 17, 2011

Thoughts to You from Yours Truly - ( TYYT ) - ( 56 ) - The Fallacy of Assumed Mutual Exclusivity ( 假定互相排斥的謬誤 ) - Feb., 17, 2011

This is a very common fallacy that affects most of our decisions. Ever so often we find ourselves opposing a proposal, say to allocate a portion of the public budget to the welfare of animals on the ground that we still have many poor citizens that need attention. Behind all such seemingly reasonable arguments there is the implicit assumption that the choices in question are mutually exclusive. This is called the fallacy of assumed mutual exclusivity meaning that we can only have one without the other or that things are all mutually exclusive when we are faced with a choice. This fallacy can lead to excuses that justify inaction while we are morally obligated to do something in the face of injustice. For example, we may feel that we are excused from helping others when we still have some unsolved problems of our own or that we need not help those worse off than us when we are not well off ourselves. This cannot be farther from the truth. It is just an excuse to dodge our moral responsibilities. Next time when we are faced with a choice beware of this very common fallacy that can lead us to wrong conclusions or the shunning of our moral responsibilities.

這是一種十分常見的思維謬誤。我們時常作出類似的決定，例如反對以公帑來改善動物福利。原因在認為仍然有很多貧困的公民需要照顧。在類似的決定後面，都包 含着假定兩者是不能共存的。即是說，我們假定只能在這兩個目標中二選其一。這樣的思維會給我們藉口去逃避道德上的責任，不去申張正義。比如，我們可能會認 為，未解決自己所有個人問題前，便沒有幫助其他人的責任。又或者，在自己未成為富翁前，不用幫助比較貧困的人。其實，這是離開真理十分遠的看法。這只會成 為令我們逃避道德責任的藉口吧了。下次我們要作出抉擇時，請小心提防和避免犯了這種謬誤。

JKHC