Method
Reductio ad Absurdum
Classification
- Method family
- Argumentative
- Domains
- Metaphysics
Overview
Reductio ad absurdum tests a proposition by assuming it for argument's sake and deriving a contradiction or another consequence that gives reason to reject the assumption.
Purpose. The method tests whether a claim can be maintained consistently. It is an argument form, not a broad name for every kind of dialectic, and it does not by itself identify the distinctive Madhyamaka practice of prasaṅga.
Characteristic operations
- Assume the claim: Treat the proposition under examination as true without yet endorsing it.
- Derive consequences: Follow what the assumption commits its defender to accepting.
- Expose the failure: Identify a contradiction, impossibility, or consequence the argument has independently shown to be unacceptable.
- Reject or revise: Logic shows only that the assumption and the other premises cannot all be true. Withdraw or qualify the assumption when the other premises are held more secure; otherwise the argument may count against one of them instead.