Home › Glossary › Letter R

Reductio argument

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An argument bringing a position to absurdity by extending its logic.

Detailed Definition
Reductio argument in poetry is a rhetorical strategy that refutes an opposing view by extending its logic to an absurd or contradictory conclusion; often embedded in satirical or polemical verse, it uses irony and hyperbolic reasoning to expose flaws in ideology, belief, or social norms through poetic logic.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem whose argument proceeds by showing that the logical conclusion of a certain premise or belief is absurd or contradictory; A satirical verse that takes a flawed argument to its extreme end to expose its illogical nature; The use of a hypothetical scenario where an opponent's viewpoint is applied, showing it leads to an unacceptable conclusion; A formal, argumentative poem that seeks to disprove an idea through logical contradiction
Additional Notes
A logical argument or strategy in a poem that attempts to prove a point by showing that the opposite or an alternative view leads to an absurd, contradictory, or clearly false conclusion; often used in satire.
Also Known As
Reduction argument reductio ad absurdum logical reduction Apagoge
Skip to main content