reductio ad absurdum : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: reductio ad absurdum	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for reductio ad absurdum
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
reductio ad absurdum n (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 Synonym(s): reductio ad absurdum, reductio
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Demonstration \Dem`on*stra"tion\, n. [L. demonstratio: cf. F. d[82]monstration.] 1. The act of demonstrating; an exhibition; proof; especially, proof beyond the possibility of doubt; indubitable evidence, to the senses or reason. Those intervening ideas which serve to show the agreement of any two others are called [bd]proofs;[b8] and where agreement or disagreement is by this means plainly and clearly perceived, it is called demonstration. --Locke. 2. An expression, as of the feelings, by outward signs; a manifestation; a show. Did your letters pierce the queen to any demonstration of grief? --Shak. Loyal demonstrations toward the prince. --Prescott. 3. (Anat.) The exhibition and explanation of a dissection or other anatomical preparation. 4. (Mil.) a decisive exhibition of force, or a movement indicating an attack. 5. (Logic) The act of proving by the syllogistic process, or the proof itself. 6. (Math.) A course of reasoning showing that a certain result is a necessary consequence of assumed premises; -- these premises being definitions, axioms, and previously established propositions. {Direct}, [or] {Positive}, {demonstration} (Logic & Math.), one in which the correct conclusion is the immediate sequence of reasoning from axiomatic or established premises; -- opposed to {Indirect}, [or] {Negative}, {demonstration} (called also {reductio ad absurdum}), in which the correct conclusion is an inference from the demonstration that any other hypothesis must be incorrect.