reductio ad absurdum

[ ri-duhk-tee-oh ad ab-sur-duhm, -zur-, -shee-oh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Logic.

a reduction to an absurdity; the refutation of a proposition by demonstrating the inevitably absurd conclusion to which it would logically lead.

reductio ad absurdum

/ rɪˈdʌktɪəʊ æd æbˈsɜːdəm /

a method of disproving a proposition by showing that its inevitable consequences would be absurd
a method of indirectly proving a proposition by assuming its negation to be true and showing that this leads to an absurdity
application of a principle or proposed principle to an instance in which it is absurd

First recorded in 1735–45, reductio ad absurdum is from Latin reductiō ad absurdum

Latin, literally: reduction to the absurd

It would be only fitting, the reductio ad absurdum of our divided age, for this election to take two extra months.

As symbol, Phelps was the reductio ad absurdum of many conservative beliefs.

Palermo practiced a reductio ad absurdum without quite becoming absurd.

It seeks to establish truth by refuting error through the reductio ad absurdum.

He is to biology what the late Camille Flammarion was to astronomy, which is to say, its court jester and reductio ad absurdum.

Not even the transformed "Tom Thumb" could be called an effective reductio ad absurdum of the Italian opera of those days.

His pictures look like a visible reductio ad absurdum of it all.

To suppose, therefore, that the limitations of the law are an integral portion of the law itself is a reductio ad absurdum.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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