REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM Definition & Meaning

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 /

noun

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

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of reductio ad absurdum¹

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

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of reductio ad absurdum¹

Latin, literally: reduction to the absurd

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Because IVF is popular with voters, donors and even legislators, so defending Alabama’s reductio ad absurdum decision would be political suicide.

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He seems to have viewed superdeterminism as a reductio ad absurdum proposition, which highlights the strangeness of quantum mechanics.

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Ross provides a reductio ad absurdum for a quiet digital-age truth: A sprinkling of coveted intellectual property can allow a shrewd company to punch well above its weight.

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It’s the reductio ad absurdum of Neumann’s “capitalist kibbutz”: Everyone is deserving of “growth,” but some are apparently more deserving than others.

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But the more progressives do this, the easier they make it for right-wing politicians to cast liberals as hostile to faith — and, reductio ad absurdum, as eager to “hurt God.”

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