Reductio ad absurdum

Reductio ad absurdum (Latin for "reduction to the absurd", traceable back to the Greek ἡ εις ?????? απαγωγη, "reduction to the impossible", often used by Aristotle) is a type of logical argument where we assume a claim for the sake of argument, arrive at an absurd result, and then conclude the original assumption must have been wrong, since it gave us this absurd result. This is also known as proof by contradiction. It makes use of the law of non-contradiction — a statement cannot be both true and false. In some cases it may also make use of the law of excluded middle — a statement which cannot be false, must then be true.

Related Topics:
Latin - Greek - Aristotle - Law of non-contradiction - Law of excluded middle

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