Hobson's choice

Origins

According to a plaque underneath a painting of Hobson donated to Cambridge Guildhall, Hobson had an extensive stable of some 40 horses. This gave the appearance to his customers that, upon entry, they would have their choice of mounts, when in fact there was only one: Hobson required his customers to take the horse in the stall closest to the door. This was to prevent the best horses from always being chosen, which would have meant overuse of the good horses. Hobson's stable was located on land that is now owned by St Catharine's College, Cambridge.

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:

It also appears in Joseph Addison's paper The Spectator (No. 509 of 14 October 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.|author=Thomas Ward|title="England's Reformation"}}

Modern use

The term "Hobson's choice" is often used to mean an illusion of choice, but it is not a choice between two equivalent options, which is a Morton's fork, nor is it a choice between two undesirable options, which is a dilemma. Hobson's choice is one between something or nothing.

John Stuart Mill, in his book Considerations on Representative Government, refers to Hobson's choice:

In another of his books, The Subjection of Women, Mill discusses marriage:

Common law

law In Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983), Justice Byron White dissented and classified the majority's decision to strike down the "one-house veto" as unconstitutional as leaving Congress with a Hobson's choice. Congress may choose between "refrain[ing] from delegating the necessary authority, leaving itself with a hopeless task of writing laws with the requisite specificity to cover endless special circumstances across the entire policy landscape, or in the alternative, to abdicate its law-making function to the executive branch and independent agency".

In Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U.S. 617 (1978), the majority opinion ruled that a New Jersey law which prohibited the importation of solid or liquid waste from other states into New Jersey was unconstitutional based on the Commerce Clause. The majority reasoned that New Jersey cannot discriminate between the intrastate waste and the interstate waste without due justification. In dissent, Justice Rehnquist stated:

In Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York, 436 U.S. 658 (1978), the judgment of the court was that

In the South African Constitutional Case MEC for Education, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Others v Pillay, 2008 (1) SA 474 (CC), Chief Justice Langa for the majority of the Court writes that:

In Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis (2018), Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented and added in one of the footnotes that the petitioners "faced a Hobson’s choice: accept arbitration on their employer’s terms or give up their jobs".

In

In Meriwether v. Hartop, the court addressed the university's offer, "Don’t use any pronouns or sex-based terms at all". It wrote, "The effect of this Hobson’s Choice is that Meriwether must adhere to the university’s orthodoxy (or face punishment). This is coercion, at the very least of the indirect sort".

Different from

A Hobson's choice is different from:

• Dilemma: A choice between two or more options, none of which is attractive.
• False dilemma: Only certain choices are considered, when in fact there are others.
• Catch 22: A logical paradox arising from a situation in which an individual needs something that can only be acquired by not being in that very situation.
• Morton's fork, and a double-bind: Choices yield equivalent and, often, undesirable results.
• Blackmail and extortion: The choice between paying money (or some non-monetary good or deed) or risk suffering an unpleasant action.

A common error is to use the phrase "Hobbesian choice" instead of "Hobson's choice", confusing the philosopher Thomas Hobbes with the relatively obscure Thomas Hobson (it is possible the confusion is between "Hobson's choice" and a "Hobbesian trap", which refers to the situation in which a state attacks another out of fear).

References

References

1. Barrett, Grant. (15 April 2009). "What's a "Hobson's Choice"? (minicast)".
2. "Thomas Hobson: Hobson's Choice and Hobson's Conduit".
3. Samuel Fisher. "Rusticus ad academicos in exercitationibus expostulatoriis, apologeticis quatuor the rustick's alarm to the rabbies or The country correcting the university and clergy, and ... contesting for the truth ... : in four apologeticall and expostulatory exercitations : wherein is contained, as well a general account to all enquirers, as a general answer to all opposers of the most truly catholic and most truly Christ-like Christians called Quakers, and of the true divinity of their doctrine : by way of entire entercourse held in special with four of the clergies chieftanes, viz, John Owen ... Tho. Danson ... John Tombes ... Rich. Baxter ..". Europeana.
4. (1832). "The Spectator with Notes and General Index, the Twelve Volumes Comprised in Two". J.J. Woodward.
5. Ward, Thomas. (1853). "English Reformation, A Poem". D.& J. Sadlier & Co..
6. Mill, John Stuart. (1861). "Considerations on Representative Government". Parker, Son, & Bourn.
7. Mill, John Stuart. (1869). "The Subjection of Women". Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer.
8. "City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U.S. 617 (1978)".
9. (6 June 1978). "Monell v. Department of Soc. Svcs. - 436 U.S. 658 (1978)". [[US Supreme Court]].
10. "MEC for Education: Kwazulu-Natal and Others v Pillay (CCT 51/06) [2007] ZACC 21; 2008 (1) SA 474 (CC); 2008 (2) BCLR 99 (CC) (5 October 2007)".
11. {{cite court. (26 March 2021). link
12. Hobbes, Thomas. (1982). "Leviathan, or the Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil". Viking Press.
13. Martinich, A. P.. (1999). "Hobbes: A Biography". [[Cambridge University Press]].
14. Martin, Gary. (1965). "Hobson's Choice". The Phrase Finder.
15. (21 September 2010). "The Hobbesian Trap".
16. (27 July 2008). "Sunday Lexico-Neuroticism". boaltalk.blogspot.com.
17. Levy, Jacob. (10 June 2003). "The Volokh Conspiracy". volokh.com.
18. Garner, Bryan. (1995). "A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage". Oxford University Press.