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orthonormal comments on Please Don't Fight the Hypothetical - Less Wrong
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Is there a way to tell the difference between helpful hypotheticals that illustrate confusing topics in stark terms (like Newcomb's Dilemma) and malicious ones that try and frame a political argument for rhetorical purposes (I can think of some examples, I'm sure you can as well, but let's try to avoid particulars)?
As I pointed out on the thread about noticing when you're rationalizing
If the hypothetical is structured so as to eliminate most courses of action, it has probably been purposely framed that way. Hypotheticals are intended to illuminate potential choices, if all but one choice has been eliminated, it is a biased alternative (loaded question).
Note that this is one reason I like considering fiction in ethical (and political theory, which is basically ethics writ large) reasoning - the scenarios are much simpler and more explicit than real world ones, but richer and less likely to be biased pbilosophically than scenarios designed for that purpose.