Dilemma

[1] The term dilemma is attributed by Gabriel Nuchelmans to Lorenzo Valla in the 15th century, in later versions of his logic text traditionally called Dialectica.

[3] Valla's neologism did not immediately take hold, preference being given to the established Latin term complexio, used by Cicero, with conversio applied to the upsetting of dilemmatic reasoning.

[5] The original use of the word horns in English has been attributed to Nicholas Udall in his 1548 book Paraphrases, translating from the Latin term cornuta interrogatio.

[10] Dilemmatic reasoning has been attributed to Melissus of Samos, a Presocratic philosopher whose works survive in fragmentary form, making the origins of the technique in philosophy imponderable.

Leibniz's 1666 doctoral dissertation De casibus perplexis (Perplexing Cases) is an early study of contradictory legal conditions.

[18] In domestic law, it has been argued that the German Constitutional Court confronted a legal dilemma when determining, in connection with proceedings relating to the German Aviation Security Act, whether a government official could intentionally kill innocent civilians by shooting down a hijacked airplane that would otherwise have crashed into a football stadium, killing tens of thousands.