The Trident: A Trilemmatic Decomposition Framework for Claim Analysis

Abstract

This paper formalizes a dialectical technique for claim analysis termed 'the Trident.' The method decomposes any claim into three mutually exclusive forks, each of which either (a) reduces to absurdity through logical extension, (b) contradicts the claimant's implicit commitments, or (c) retreats to unfalsifiable vagueness. Drawing on the Socratic elenchus, Wittgenstein's linguistic therapy, and contemporary argumentation theory, we demonstrate that the Trident provides a systematic framework for identifying structural incoherence in philosophical, political, and scientific claims. The framework is distinguished from mere skepticism by its constructive falsifiability condition: a claim survives the Trident if and only if all three forks preserve coherence. The Trident is offered as a diagnostic instrument for epistemic hygiene, not a theory of truth.