#reduction to absurdity
- Absurd — Contradicting the laws of formal logic, common sense, or empirical evidence; devoid of reason, meaning, or internal coherence. As a philosophical concept (existentialism), it denotes the fundamental conflict between the human tendency to seek meaning in life and the cold, silent, meaningless universe. In literature and theater, it represents a movement focused on illustrating the grotesque and illogical nature of the human condition.
- Apagogic — Belonging to apagogy or indirect proof, based on reduction to absurdity; a type of structural logical reasoning through which the truth of a thesis is proven by highlighting the false, contradictory, or impossible character of the consequences of the opposite thesis.
- Apagogy — A form of indirect proof through which the truth of a thesis is established by proving the falsity of the contradictory thesis (reduction to absurdity). This inverse structural process consists of provisionally accepting the opposite of the statement we want to prove, then showing that this assumption leads to logically unacceptable, absurd, or impossible consequences.