reductio ad absurdum

reductio ad absurdum
/ri duk"tee oh' ad" ab serr"deuhm, -zerr"-, -shee oh'/, Logic.
a reduction to an absurdity; the refutation of a proposition by demonstrating the inevitably absurd conclusion to which it would logically lead.
[1735-45; < L reductio ad absurdum]

* * *

▪ logic
      (Latin: “reduction to absurdity”), in logic, a form of refutation showing contradictory or absurd consequences following upon premises as a matter of logical necessity. A form of the reductio ad absurdum argument, known as indirect proof or reductio ad impossibile, is one that proves a proposition by showing that its denial conjoined with other propositions previously proved or accepted leads to a contradiction. In common speech the term reductio ad absurdum refers to anything pushed to absurd extremes.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Reductio ad absurdum — (Latin for reduction to the absurd ), also known as an apagogical argument, reductio ad impossibile, or proof by contradiction, is a type of logical argument where one assumes a claim for the sake of argument and derives an absurd or ridiculous… …   Wikipedia

  • reductio ad absurdum — index counterargument Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 reductio ad absurdum …   Law dictionary

  • Reductio ad absurdum —         (лат.) сведение к нелепости. Приём опровержения. Философский энциклопедический словарь. М.: Советская энциклопедия. Гл. редакция: Л. Ф. Ильичёв, П. Н. Федосеев, С. М. Ковалёв, В. Г. Панов. 1983 …   Философская энциклопедия

  • reductio ad absurdum — лат. (рэдукцио ад абсурдум) доведение до нелепости (как способ доказательства). Толковый словарь иностранных слов Л. П. Крысина. М: Русский язык, 1998 …   Словарь иностранных слов русского языка

  • reductio ad absurdum — 1741, Latin, lit. reduction to the absurd …   Etymology dictionary

  • reductio ad absurdum — (izg. redùkcio ȁd apsùrdum) DEFINICIJA log. dovođenje do besmisla; metoda dokazivanja kada se nastoji dokazati istinitost neke tvrdnje pokazujući neistinitost ili apsurdnost njezine suprotnosti …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • reductio ad absurdum — is a method of proving the falsity of a premise by showing that the logical consequence is absurd. An example is that if eating less makes one healthier, the logical conclusion is to eat nothing …   Modern English usage

  • reductio ad absurdum — [ri duk′tē ō΄ ad ab sʉr′dəm, ri duk′shē ō΄] n. [L, reduction to absurdity] Logic the proof of a proposition by showing its opposite to be an obvious falsity or self contradiction, or the disproof of a proposition by showing its consequences to be …   English World dictionary

  • Reductio ad absurdum — Die Reductio ad absurdum (von lat. für Zurückführung auf das widrig Klingende, Ungereimte, Unpassende, Sinnlose) ist eine Schlussfigur und Beweistechnik in der Logik. Bei der Reductio ad absurdum wird eine Aussage widerlegt, indem gezeigt wird,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Reductio ad absurdum — ARGVMENTA Argumento ad antiquitatem Argumento ad baculum Argumento ad consequentiam Argumento ad crumenam Argumento ad hominem Argumento ad ignorantiam Argumento ad logicam Argumento ad nauseam Argumento ad novitatem Argumento ad populum… …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”