reductio ad absurdum
1
9.9
- noun
- /rɪˈdʌk.ti.oʊ æd æbˈsɜr.dəm/
- Formal
:
reductio ad absurdum
- The politician's plan was met with a reductio ad absurdum, proving that its implications were not viable.
Examples
-
Such reductio ad absurdum arguments show the absurdity of logic at work in the Court's decision.
Academic text (1990) -
In her debate, she effectively used a reductio ad absurdum to highlight the flaws in her opponent's reasoning.
-
I was making a reductio ad absurdum argument.
Blog text (28) -
Secondly, let us attempt a reductio ad absurdum.
Blog text (10) -
This response is so bizarre that it practically amounts to a reductio ad absurdum of their whole argument.
Academic text (2017) -
The argument was reductio ad absurdum, if I recall my single ethics class correctly.
Blog text (8) -
Your reductio ad absurdum argument is elegant and shows conclusively that there can be no gravitational effect.
Blog text (18) -
Robinson dismantles the idea of modern distinctiveness by wielding an ancient rhetorical technique, reductio ad absurdum, with wicked skill.
Academic text (2010) -
The arguments rehearsed above turn on a basic reductio ad absurdum: since no one is entirely self-sufficient and many are completely dependent on others, how can self-sufficiency be demanded of recipients of public aid?
Academic text (2003) -
The professor demonstrated a reductio ad absurdum by showing that denying climate change leads to contradictory conclusions.
Synonyms
10
6.8
An argument or evidence that proves a claim wrong
3
9.9
A way of arguing that shows a claim is false by proving its denial leads to a contradiction
Showing that an idea or statement is wrong by using facts and reasons
An act of showing that an idea or claim is wrong
Surface Forms
Morphology
reductio + ad + absurdum
The phrase is compositionally built from Latin constituents meaning 'reduction' + 'to' + 'the absurd', so a learner who knows the parts can directly derive 'reduction to absurdity' and the described argumentative method. Although the Latin form may be unfamiliar to many learners, the semantic relations are regular and cross-linguistically paralleled (e.g. 'reduction to the absurd' / 'reducción al absurdo'), making the meaning predictable if the constituents are understood.
Etymology
Reductio ad absurdum literally means 'reduction to the absurd'. It uses the image of following an idea step by step until it reaches a silly or impossible result to show the idea must be wrong, so the phrase means 'showing an idea is wrong because it leads to an absurd result'.