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The perfect solution fallacy is a logical fallacy that occurs when an argument assumes that a perfect solution exists and/or that a solution should be rejected because some part of the problem would still exist after it was implemented.

Presumably, if no solution is perfect, then no solution would last very long politically once it had been implemented. Still, many people (notably utopians) seem to find the idea of a perfect solution compelling, perhaps because it is easy to imagine.

Examples:

These anti-drunk driving ad campaigns are not going to work. People are still going to drink and drive no matter what.

Rebuttal It may not eliminate 100% of drunk driving, but is the amount by which it would reduce the total amount of drunk driving enough to make the policy worthwhile?

Seat belts are a bad idea. People are still going to die in car wrecks.

Rebuttal It may not save 100% of people involved in car wrecks, but isn't the number of lives that would be saved enough to make seat belts worthwhile?

It is common for arguments that commit this fallacy to omit any specifics about how much the solution is claimed to not work, but express it only in vague terms. Alternatively, it may be combined with the fallacy of misleading vividness, when a specific example of a solution's failing is described in eye-catching detail and base rates are ignored (see availability heuristic).

The fallacy is a kind of false dilemma.

• Browne, M. N. & Keeley, S. M. (2004). Asking the Right Questions. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.