Definition of Reductio ad absurdum

1. Noun. (reduction to the absurd) a disproof by showing that the consequences of the proposition are absurd; or a proof of a proposition by showing that its negation leads to a contradiction.

Exact synonyms: Reductio
Generic synonyms: Disproof, Falsification, Refutation

Definition of Reductio ad absurdum

1. Noun. (mathematics logic) The method of proving a statement by assuming the statement is false and, with that assumption, arriving at a blatant contradiction. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Reductio Ad Absurdum

reducing sugar
reducing sugars
reducing valve
reduct
reductant
reductants
reductase
reductases
reducted
reductibilities
reductibility
reductic acid
reducting
reductio
reductio ad Hitlerum
reductio ad absurdum
reduction
reduction division
reduction gear
reduction in force
reduction mammaplasty
reduction nucleus
reduction potential
reduction to the absurd
reductional
reductionism

Literary usage of Reductio ad absurdum

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Argumentation and Debating by William Trufant Foster (1917)
"Reductio ad Absurdum. It is sometimes possible to show the absurdity of an argument by a ... This method of refutation is called Reductio ad Absurdum. ..."

2. Argumentation and Debating by William Trufant Foster (1908)
"Reductio ad Absurdum. — It is sometimes possible to show the absurdity of an argument by a ... This method of refutation is called Reductio ad Absurdum. ..."

3. Argumentation and Debating by William Trufant Foster (1908)
"I. Reductio ad Absurdum. — It is sometimes possible to show the absurdity of an argument by a ... This method of refutation is called Reductio ad Absurdum. ..."

4. Cap and Gown: Some College Verse by Joseph Le Roy Harrison (1893)
"... reductio ad absurdum. ('\f every ill is love the cure, Howe'er so great that ill may be ; But if thy ill be love itself, Alas, no cure is left for thee ..."

5. The Theory of Development: A Criticism of Dr. Newman's Essay on the by James Bowling Mozley (1878)
"We must be allowed to say here that the reductio ad absurdum, as a whole form of argument, is in an unsatisfactory, we may say neglected state,—there are no ..."

6. Socialism and Character by Vida Dutton Scudder (1912)
"... inequality refute the very ideal which it was claimed that they alone could foster. And so does the Apologia of Religion end in a reductio ad absurdum. ..."

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