Dictionary:
re·duc·ti·o ad ab·sur·dum (rĭ-dŭk'tē-ō ăd əb-sûr'dəm, -zûr'-, -shē-ō)  |
Disproof of a proposition by showing that it leads to absurd or untenable conclusions.
[Medieval Latin reductiō ad absurdum : Latin reductiō, a bringing back, reduction + Latin ad, to + Latin absurdum, absurdity, from neuter of absurdus, absurd.]
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| Philosophy Dictionary: reductio ad absurdum |
(Latin, reduction to absurdity) The process of reasoning that derives a contradiction from some set of assumptions, and concludes that the set as a whole is untenable, so that at least one of them is to be rejected. Formally, if {A1…An} ⊦ (B & ¬B), then {A1…An-1} ⊦ ¬An.
| Law Encyclopedia: Reductio Ad Absurdum |
[Latin, Reduction to absurdity.] In logic, a method employed to disprove an argument by illustrating how it leads to an absurd consequence.
| Wikipedia: Reductio ad absurdum |
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Reductio ad absurdum (Latin: "reduction to the absurd") is a form of argument in which a proposition is disproven by following its implications to a logical but absurd consequence.
An example of a reductio ad absurdum would be to note the consequences of an ad coelum theory of property would be that a land owner would have ownership over other planets.
Attempts at making a reductio ad absurdum argument can easily create a straw man fallacy if it distorts the proposition which one is trying to disprove. The example above can very easily lead to a straw man fallacy in that it states that:
The fallacy, thus, lies in the difference between the ability to own land and the right to own land, which are not equivalent.
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 | indirect proof (philosophy) |
| indirect proof (mathematics) |
| absurd (philosophy) |
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Philosophy Dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Law Encyclopedia. West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Copyright © 1998 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Reductio ad absurdum". Read more |
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