False compromise

Argument to moderation (Latin: argumentum ad temperantiam)—also known as [argument from] middle ground, false compromise, gray fallacy, false middle point fallacy, equidistance fallacy and the golden mean fallacy—is an informal fallacy which asserts that the truth must be found as a compromise between two opposite positions. This fallacy's opposite is the false dilemma.

An argument is only logically sound if its premises are all true and it is a valid argument. However, in many issues of contention, there are sound arguments from both sides. In such cases, whether or not the argument to moderation is a fallacious method for arriving at truth is arguable. In essence, the method is pragmatic and utilitarian and creates a new argument from the best parts of both sides. This method is synonymous to those used by Golden mean (philosophy), Centrism, Middle Way, Third Way, and evolutionary Reproduction and Genetic recombination.

In such cases, where both arguments are sound or perceived to be sound, it is possible that a true compromise of sorts, as opposed to a false compromise, could be made. A true compromise can produce a deductively valid and sound argument which is also acceptable, utilitarian and desirable. A false compromise can produce a deductively invalid or unsound argument, or even if the argument is sound and valid, a pragmatically undesirable conclusion. The problem therefore with the method is it is not always obvious how to discern a true compromise from a false compromise. If the new argument is both sound and valid, one idea is that it can be considered a true compromise if it is accepted by a majority on both sides of the argument. Indeed, such heuristics are used to gauge political opinion on different policies (see Overton window).

Some believe that the method of recombination of both arguments is not a logically valid operator in deductive logic and hence that the method in itself is a fallacy whilst others believe the new argument is made from logically valid transformations of the initial arguments, and the new argument is what needs to be logically evaluated. It is therefore not clear that the use of the method in itself can be described as false or true, and rather that this may be a misnomer that doesn't consider context of evaluation such as utilitarian benefit, cost, virtue or categorical imperative, or that doesn't include some inductive data about the success of producing true or pragmatic outcomes.

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Wikipedia