Hobson's choice
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A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered, and one may refuse to take that option. The choice is therefore between taking the option or not; "take it or leave it." The phrase is said to originate from Thomas Hobson (1544–1630), a livery stable owner at Cambridge, England. To rotate the use of his horses he offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in the stall nearest the door or taking none at all.
Hobson's choice is different from:
- a choice between limited options
- Blackmail and extortion— the choice between paying money (or other economic good) and suffering an unpleasant action
- False dilemma— only two choices are considered, when in fact there are others
- Catch-22 and Morton's Fork— all choices yield equivalent, often undesirable, results
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[edit] Early appearances in writing
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first known written usage of this phrase is in The rustick's alarm to the Rabbies, written by Samuel Fisher in 1660:
- "If in this Case there be no other (as the Proverb is) then Hobson's choice ... which is, chuse whether you will have this or none."
It also appears in Joseph Addison's paper The Spectator (October 14, 1712); and in Thomas Ward's 1688 poem "England's Reformation", not published until after Ward's death. Ward wrote:
- "Where to elect there is but one, / 'Tis Hobson's choice—take that, or none."
[edit] Modern use
Hobson's choice is often misused to mean a false illusion of choice, (as can be seen in the examples on this page, especially in the section on American law). But it is not a choice between two undesirable options, which is a Morton's Fork. Such a choice between two options of nearly equal value is more properly called a dilemma. Hobson's choice is one between something or nothing.
On occasion, speakers and writers use the phrase "Hobbesian choice" instead of "Hobson's choice". They confuse the philosopher Thomas Hobbes with the relatively obscure Thomas Hobson.[1][2][3][4] Notwithstanding that confused usage, the phrase, "Hobbesian choice" remains historically incorrect.[5][6][7][8]
[edit] In U.S. law
The then Associate Justice William H. Rehnquist of the US Supreme Court used the term in his dissenting opinion in City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U.S. 617 (1978), and in citing a lower court ruling in his majority opinion in Upjohn Co. v. United States, 449 U.S. 383 (1981).
Justice White, in the case of Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 (1983), used the term in his dissent. In doing so, he argued that denying the House of Representatives the power to place a veto on administrative agencies responsible for enacting the law would leave the House with a Hobson's choice of either refraining from delegating the necessary authority, or abdicating its law-making function to the executive branch and independent agencies.
Justice Souter, in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002), used the term in his dissent, arguing that families with school vouchers were presented with a Hobson's choice: though in theory their voucher could be used toward the cost of tuition of any school, secular or religious, 82% of all private schools in the Cleveland City School District were religious.
Justice Scalia, quoting the lower court, also used the term in a footnote to Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004) to refer to a choice between invoking the marital privilege and confronting one's spouse.
The Maryland Court of Appeals applied the term to a jury's decision-making ability when a prosecutor's unwillingness to pursue a lesser-included offense (e.g. second-degree murder or manslaughter) then requires a jury to convict or let free the defendant on a greater crime (e.g. first-degree murder). See Hook v. State, 315 Md. 25, 28 (1989).
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals used the term to describe the dilemma of a creditor who can either comply with the applicable North Carolina law requiring notice of intent to claim attorneys fees, or the prohibition of the automatic stay of the Bankruptcy Code against taking any action against a debtor. This is not a Hobson's choice but a dilemma, though it was described as such. (In Re: Shangra-La, Inc., 167 F.3d 843, 851; 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 594; Bankr. L. Rep. (CCH) P77,879; 33 Bankr. Ct. Dec. 999 (4th Cir. 1999)).
The Fourth Circuit also used the term to describe a dilemma where a later-served defendant in a multiple defendant lawsuit may have to decide between foregoing their right to remove to federal court or hurriedly prepare their case and face Rule 11 sanctions. McKinney v. Bd. of Trustees of Md. Community College, 955 F.2d 924, 928 (4th Cir. 1992).
The California Court of Appeal used the term in 1983 to describe the situation in which a university found itself unable to comply with a provision of the Californian Government Code because of the likelihood that to do so would be in violation of Federal Law. Regents of University of California v. Public Employment Relations Bd. (1983) 139 Cal.App.3d 1037, 189 Cal. Rptr. 298.
It is also used in EEOC v. Lockheed, 444 F.Supp.2d 414 (2006) referring to a choice between withdrawing an EEOC charge or forfeiting severance benefits.
In American politics, Presidential candidate Dr. Alan Keyes coined the tongue-in-cheek phrase "Dobson's Choice" (mildly criticizing Dr. James Dobson) to highlight the dilemma conservative voters face in a two-party political system while choosing to endorse the lesser of two evils. [9]
[edit] In media
In 1847, it appeared as follows in Ch. XXIII, of The Crater: Or, Vulcan's Peak, a Tale of the Pacific, by James Fenimore Cooper. (The quotation is from the 1863 Edition, scanned by Project Gutenberg). "Several other marriages took place, the scarcity of subjects making it somewhat hazardous to delay: when Hobson's choice is placed before one, deliberation is of no great use."
Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the phrase in her novel "Herland". The term also appears multiple times in Robert Heinlein's "Job: A Comedy of Justice."
In Down to a Sunless Sea, the British naval officer in the Falklands teletyping to the pilot, Jonah, described suffocating with several secretaries in a room sealed from fallout as a Hobson's choice: "fry or suffocate". When Jonah told him that the food and fuel reserves of various South Pole bases were critical information to his passengers waiting evacuating from the Azores with fallout ready to move in, the officer broke the seals on the door to operate a radio set to communicate with the American base at McMurdo. He sacrificed his life to inform Jonah that a skeleton crew of sixteen men had sufficient food for a thousand people for seven years, plus a nuclear reactor for warmth, so all passengers could be evacuated out without the need to bring food or fuel.
Hobson's Choice is a play by Harold Brighouse, the title coming from the expression; the central character Hobson is given such a choice. The play was first produced in America, the first English production being on June 22 1916 in London. The story is set in Salford in 1880.
In 1954, David Lean directed a film named Hobson's Choice, starring Charles Laughton and John Mills, a winner of the BAFTA award.
The editors of The New American use the term in an idiosyncratic way which implies fraud or deceit as an essential element in a Hobson's choice.
The lead character of Early Edition received tomorrow's newspaper today and would try to avert disasters reported therein. He was named Gary Hobson, a reference to this aphorism,[citation needed].
In the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, the most successful stable owner in the city-state of Ankh-Morpork is named Hobson. Also, Lord Vetinari makes use of a Hobson's Choice scenario at both the beginning and end of the book Going Postal.
In The Grim Grotto the Baudelaires and Fiona cannot get out of a room due to a poisonous fungus (the Medusoid Mycelium) growing in the doorway. They refer to it as a Hobson's choice, but this would be a misunderstanding of the term.
In the 1970s Television show Mind Your Language Mr Brown tells Juan Cervantes that there is only one option left on the blackboard (from a selection of topics being discussed), and that this is "Hobson's Choice".
In the 1980s, there existed a restaurant popular with students in Cambridge, England. Its name was Hobson's Choice. The menu was: Dish of the Day.
In an episode of "Screenwipe" Chalie Brooker claimed the title of the program "Ann Widdecombe Versus Prostitution" sounded like the ultimate Hobson's choice.
[edit] In business
Henry Ford was said to have sold the Ford Model T with the famous Hobson's choice of "... any color ... so long as it is black".[10] In reality, the Model T was available in a modest palette of colors, but the rapid production required quick-drying paint, which from 1915-25 was available in only one color—black.
A contemporary example of Hobson's choice is the online store Woot! which offers one item for sale, which changes daily.
[edit] References
- ^ Hobbes, Thomas. 1651. Leviathan, or the Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil. Reprint, New York: Viking Press, 1982.
- ^ Dyzenhaus, David. 2001. "Hobbes and the Legitimacy of Law." Law and Philosophy 20 (September): 461–8.
- ^ Martinich, A.P. 1999. Hobbes: A Biography. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press
- ^ http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/183300.html
- ^ http://www.reference.com/search?q=hobson's%20choice
- ^ http://boaltalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/sunday-lexico-neuroticism_27.html
- ^ http://www.volokh.com/2003_06_08_volokh_archive.html#200408984
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Editor: "Amazingly, some writers have confused the obscure Thomas Hobson with his famous contemporary, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes. The resulting malapropism is beautifully grotesque" Bryan Garner, "A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage" Second Edition, 404-405 (Oxford University Press 1995).
- ^ http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=71830
- ^ Ford, Henry. "IV". My Life and Work. ISBN 978-0766127746. http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/hnfrd10.txt.
