Morton's fork

Morton's fork, also called heads I win, tails you lose, is an informal logical fallacy in which mutually exclusive premises are used in mutually contradictory arguments to lead to the same conclusion. It is named after John Morton, Lord Chancellor of England under King Henry VII, who famously argued that those who lived lavishly were obviously rich and could therefore pay more in taxes, while those who lived frugally must have accumulated savings and could therefore pay more in taxes. In some examples, one of the arguments is valid, while the other is invalid. In others, both arguments are invalid.

Examples

• Advocates of special rights for homosexuals argue that if homosexuals are doing well financially, they are a model minority and therefore deserving of such special rights, whereas if homosexuals are not doing well financially, they are marginalized and therefore need such special rights.

See also

• Stolen concept