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OP Does a literary term exist for the following situation?
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Someone thinks they have demolished an argument with reductio ad absurdum, but then their apparently-absurd conclusion is accepted anyhow, as a mere paradox.
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An example of this would be the paradox of Schrondinger's cat. Schrondinger hated the idea of quantum superposition (a particle is in two states at once). He devised his thought experiment with the dead/living cat as a reductio ad absurdum argument against superposition. However, the physics community essentially turned it on its head, and said "yes, it seems to be paradoxical, but the cat is indeed both alive and dead at the same time, and superposition remains true."
I can think of some other examples, and would like to refer to these examples as a class. However, I imagine that there's already a literary term for situations like this. Much thanks!
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted Word for backfiring reductio ad absurdum? Matt_Jensen 10/11/06 07:42 PM Re: Word for backfiring reductio ad absurdum? Myridon 10/11/06 08:18 PM Re: Word for backfiring reductio ad absurdum? Matt_Jensen 10/11/06 09:09 PM Re: Word for backfiring reductio ad absurdum? Faldage 10/12/06 01:23 AM Argumentum ad stupiditas Hydra 10/13/06 01:53 AM Re: Argumentum ad stupiditas themilum 10/13/06 03:18 AM Re: Argumentum ad stupiditas Hydra 10/13/06 03:49 AM Re: Argumentum ad stupiditas Faldage 10/13/06 09:48 AM Re: Word for backfiring reductio ad absurdum? belMarduk 10/13/06 01:23 PM Re: Word for backfiring reductio ad absurdum? Aramis 10/12/06 06:30 PM
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