AbsurdityFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An absurdity is a thing that is extremely unreasonable, so as to be foolish or not taken seriously, or the stateof being so. "Absurd" is an adjective used to describe an absurdity, e.g., "this encyclopedia article isabsurd."[1] It derives from the Latin absurdusm meaning "out of tune", hence irrational.[2] The Latin surdusmeans "deaf", implying stupidity.[1] Absurdity is contrasted with seriousness in reasoning.[3] In general usage,absurdity may be synonymous with ridiculousness and nonsense. In specialized usage, absurdity is related toextremes in bad reasoning or pointlessness in reasoning; ridiculousness is related to extremes of incongruousjuxtaposition, laughter, and ridicule; and nonsense is related to a lack of meaningfulness.

Demarcation between absurdity and sound reasoning

Medical commentators have criticized methods and reasoning in alternative and complementary medicineand integrative medicine as being either absurdities, or being between evidence and absurdity, oftenmisleading the public with euphemistic terminology such as the expressions "alternative medicine" and"complementary medicine", and calling for a clear demarcation between valid scientific evidence andscientific methodology and absurdity.[4][5]

Humor and point making

Further information: Theory of humor and Absurdist humor

"I can see nothing" – Alice in Wonderland

"My, you must have good eyes" – Cheshire Cat

Absurdity is used in humor to make people laugh or to make a sophisticated point, for example in LewisCarroll's "Jabberwocky", a poem of nonsense verse, originally featured as a part of his absurdist novelThrough the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1872); Carroll was a logician and parodied logicusing illogic and inverting logical methods.[6] Argentine novelist Jorge Luis Borges used absurdities in hisshort stories to note points.[7] Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is considered absurdist by some.[8]

Absurd reasoning is often used in comedies.[citation needed]

Psychology

Psychologists study how humans adapt to constant absurdities in life.[9]

Absurdity in advertisement

Absurdity is used in advertising, where it has been found to moderate negative attitudes toward products andincrease product recognition.[10]

Doctrine of absurdity

The doctrine of absurdity refers to any strict interpretation of something to the point of violating commonsense, e.g., following religious dictates, such as in pharisaism (emphasizing or observing the something's exactrules or words, but not its spirit).[11][12][13]

The absurdity doctrine, also known as the "Scrivner's Error" exception, is a legal theory under whichAmerican courts have interpreted statutes contrary to their plain meaning in order to avoid absurd legalconclusions.[14][15][16] It is contrasted with [17]

"The common sense of man approves the judgment mentioned by Pufendorf [sic. Puffendorf],that the Bolognian law which enacted 'that whoever drew blood in the streets should be punishedwith the utmost severity', did not extend to the surgeon who opened the vein of a person that felldown in the street in a fit. The same common sense accepts the ruling, cited by Plowden, that thestatute of 1st Edward II, which enacts that a prisoner who breaks prison shall be guilty of afelony, does not extend to a prisoner who breaks out when the prison is on fire – 'for he is not tobe hanged because he would not stay to be burnt'."[18]

Reduction to Absurdity: Reductio ad absurdum in polemics, logicand mathematics

Reductio ad absurdum, reducing to an absurdity, is a method of proof in logic and mathematics, wherebyassuming that a proposition is true leads to absurdity; a proposition is assumed to be true and this is used todeduce a proposition known to be false, therefore the original proposition must have been false. It is also anargumentation style in polemics, whereby a position is demonstrated to be false, or "absurd", by assuming itand reasoning to reach something known to be believed to be false or to violate common sense; e.g., as usedby Plato to argue against other philosophical positions.[19]

Theology

"I believe because it is absurd"—Tertullian

Absurdity is cited as a basis for some theological reasoning about formation of belief and faith, such as infideism, an epistemological theory that reason and faith may be hostile to each other. The statement "Credoquia absurdum" ("I believe because it is absurd") is attributed to Tertullian from De Carne Christi, astranslated by philosopher Voltaire.[20] According to the New Advent Church, what Tertullian actually says inDCC 5 is "... the Son of God died; it is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd."[21]

In the 15th century, the Spanish theologian Tostatus used what he thought was a reduction to absurdityarguing against a spherical earth using dogma, arguing that a spherical earth would imply the existence ofantipodes, which would be impossible since this would require either that Christ to appeared twice, or thatthe inhabitants of the antipodes would be forever damned, which he claimed was an absurdity.[citation needed]

Andrew Willet grouped absurdities with "flat contradictions to scripture" and "heresies".[22]

History

Absurdity has been used throughout western history regarding foolishness and extremely poor reasoning toform belief.[23]

Ancient Greece

In Aristophenes' 5th century BC comedy The Wasps, his protagonist Philocleon learned the "absurdities" ofAesop's Fables, considered to be unreasonable fantasy, and not true.[24]

Plato often used "absurdity" to describe very poor reasoning, or the conclusion from adopting a position that

is false and reasoning to a false conclusion, called an "absurdity" (argument by reductio ad absurdum). Platodescribes himself as not using absurd argumentation against himself in Parmenides.[25] In Gorgias, Platorefers to an "inevitable absurdity" as the outcome of reasoning from a false assumption.[26]

Aristotle rectified an irrational absurdity in reasoning with empiricism using likelihood, "once the irrationalhas been introduced and an air of likelihood imparted to it, we must accept it in spite of the absurdity.[27] Heclaimed that absurdity in reasoning being veiled by charming language in poetry, "As it is, the absurdity isveiled by the poetic charm with which the poet invests it… But in the Epic poem the absurdity passesunnoticed."[27]

Renaissance and early modern periods

Michel de Montaigne, father of the essay and modern skepticism, argued that the process of abridgement isfoolish and produces absurdity, "Every abridgement of a good book is a foolish abridgement… absurdity [is]not to be cured… satisfied with itself than any reason, can reasonably be."[28]

Francis Bacon, an early promoter of empiricism and the scientific method, argued that absurdity should notalways be laughed at, since it is a necessary component of scientific progress, where bold new ways ofthinking and bold hypotheses often led to absurdity, "For if absurdity be the subject of laughter, doubt youbut great boldness is seldom without some absurdity."[29]

Hobbes' "Table of Absurdity"

Thomas Hobbes distinguished absurdity from errors, including basic linguistic errors as when a word is simplyused to refer to something which does not have that name. According to Martinich: "What Hobbes is worriedabout is absurdity. Only human beings can embrace an absurdity, because only human beings have language,and philosophers are more susceptible to it than others".[30] Hobbes wrote that "words whereby we conceivenothing but the sound, are those we call absurd, insignificant, and nonsense. And therefore if a man shouldtalk to me of a round quadrangle; or, qualities of bread in cheese; or, immaterial substances; or of a freesubject; a free will; or any free, but free from being hindered by opposition, I should not say he were in anerror, but that his words were without meaning, that is to say, absurd".[31] He distinguished seven types ofabsurdity. Below is the summary of Martinich, based on what he describes as Hobbes' "mature account"found in "De Corpore" 5., which all use examples that could be found in Aristotelian or scholasticphilosophy, and all reflect "Hobbes' commitment to the new science of Galileo and Harvey". This is known as"Hobbes' Table of Absurdity".

"Combining the name of a body with the name of an accident." For example, "existence is a being" or,"a being is existence". These absurdities are typical of scholastic philosophy according to Hobbes.

1.

"Combining the name of a body with the name of a phantasm." For example, "a ghost is a body".2."Combining the name of a body with the name of a name." For example, "a universal is a thing".3."Combining the name of an accident with the name of a phantasm." For example, "colour appears to aperceiver".

4.

"Combining the name of an accident with the name of a name." For example, "a definition is theessence of a thing".

5.

"Combining the name of a phantasm with the name of a name." For example, "the idea of a man is auniversal".

6.

"Combining the name of a thing with the name of a speech act." For example, "some entities are beingsper se".

7.

According to Martinich, Gilbert Ryle discussed the types of problem Hobbes refers to as absurdities underthe term "category error".

Although common usage now considers "absurdity" to be synonymous with "ridiculousness", Hobbes

discussed the two concepts as different, in that absurdity is viewed as having to do with invalid reasoning,[30][31] while ridiculousness has to do with laughter, superiority, and deformity.[32][33][34]

Technical use in existentialism, philosophy of language, logic, andcomputer science

Absurdism in existential philosophy

Further information: Absurdism

It is illogical to seek purpose or meaning in an uncaring world without purpose or meaning, or to accumulateexcessive wealth in the face of certain death. Absurdity is used in existentialist and related philosophy todescribe absurdly pointless efforts to try to find such meaning or purpose in an objective and uncaring world,a philosophy known as absurdism.

Theater of the Absurd

"Theater should be a bloody and inhuman spectacle designed to exercise (sic. exorcise) thespectator's repressed criminal and erotic obsessions.

—Antonin Artaud, The Theatre and Its Double

The Theater of the Absurd was a surrealist movement demonstrating motifs of absurdism.

Absurdity in the philosophy of language

Further information: Moore's paradox

Philosopher G. E. Moore cites a paradox in that such statements as "I went to the pictures last Tuesday but Idon't believe it" can be true, are (logically) consistent, and are not (obviously) contradictions. Wittgensteinobserves that in some unusual circumstances absurdity itself disappears in such statements, as there are caseswhere "It is raining but I don't believe it" can make sense, i.e., what appears to be an absurdity is notnonsense.[35]

Logic and computer science

An absurdity constraint is used in the logic of model transformations.[36]

The absurdity constant in logic

The "absurdity constant" is used in formal logic.[37]

The absurdity rule in logic

The absurdity rule is a rule in logic, as used by Patrick Suppes in Logic, methodology and philosophy ofscience: Proceedings.[38]

See also

IllogicalNonsenseNon sequitur (literary device)

Ridiculous (general use)SillyThe Moon is made of green cheese

References

^ a b Webster's Dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/absurd?show=0&t=1296966875)1.^ Wordreference.com (http://www.wordreference.com/definition/absurdities)2.^ Thesaurus.com (http://thesaurus.com/browse/laughable)3.^ "Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Between Evidence and Absurdity", Perspectives in Biology andMedicine, Volume 52, Number 2, Spring 2009, pp. 289–303, Edzard Ernst

4.

^ "Propagation of the Absurd: demarcation of the Absurd revisited", Wallace Sampson, Kimball Atwood IV, TheMedical Journal of Australia, 183 (11/12)

5.

^ Wonderland Revisited, Harry Levin (http://www.jstor.org/pss/4334590)6.^ "to justify this 'absurdity' is the primordial object of this note", Labyrinths, Jorge Luis Borges, p. 39, [1](http://books.google.com/books?id=wtPxGztYx-UC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=Borges+Absurdity&source=bl&ots=yyqv5MUbM8&sig=6wj59dP1zrXuD1kparLFIOpFkDY&hl=en&ei=975VTbTSC4WosQOH2rH4BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)

7.

^ "On the Absurdity of Kafka's Works from Transformer", G Yan-li, Journal of Yunyang Teachers College,2008

8.

^ The psychology of adaptation to absurdity: tactics of make-believe, by Seymour Fisher, Rhoda Lee Fisher, [2](http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kejcgoDXJDwC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=absurdity&ots=eKERP2kuuX&sig=ZpvYE8ZEzNwRGsxY_lT1nuopN9Q#v=onepage&q&f=false)

9.

^ "Effects of Absurdity in Advertising: The Moderating Role of Product Category Attitude and the MediatingRole of Cognitive Responses", Journal of Advertising, 2000, Leopold Arias-Bolzmann, Goutam Chakraborty,John C. Mowen, [3] (http://www.jstor.org/pss/4189133)

10.

^ "Pharisaic", Your Diciontionary.com (http://www.yourdictionary.com/pharisaic)11.^ "It was Pharisaic in its ritualism and… asceticism… proclaiming a doctrine of absurdity to the enlightenedpagan", The Churches of the New Testament, George W. McDaniel, 1921

12.

^ Your Dictionary.com (http://www.yourdictionary.com/pharisaic)13.^ The Absurdity Doctrine, Harvard Law Review, John F. Manning, Vol.116, #8, June, 2003, pp. 2387–2486,[4] (http://www.jstor.org/pss/1342768)

14.

^ Statutory Construction and the "Absurdity Doctrine" or "Scrivener's Error" Exception, Francis G.X. Pileggi,[5] (http://www.delawarelitigation.com/2007/04/articles/chancery-court-updates/statutory-construction-and-the-absurdity-doctrine-or-scriveners-error-exception/)

15.

^ Avoiding Absurdity, Indiana Law Journal, Vol. 81, p. 1001, 2006, Glen Staszewski, [6] (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=896310)

16.

^ 44 Am. U. L. Rev. 127 (1994–1995) Absurdity and the Limits of Literalism: Defining the Absurd ResultPrinciple in Statutory Interpretation, Veronica M Dougherty, [7] (http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/aulr44&div=12&id=&page=)

17.

^ K Mart Copr. V. Cartier, Inc., 486 U.S. 281 (1988) (Scalia concurring in part and dissenting in part), quotingU.S. v. Kirby, 74 U.S. 482, 487 (1868). [8] (http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/aulr44&div=12&id=&page=)

18.

^ The History of Reduction to Absurdity, Yao-yong, 200619.^ A Philosophical Dictionary: From the French, Voltaire20.^ On the Flesh of Christ, Fathers of the Church, New Advent (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0315.htm)21.^ The doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome truly represented, John Gother, 159322.^ Absurdities – Webster’s Timeline Dictionary23.^ The Wasps, Parmenides24.^ Parmenides, Plato25.^ Gorgias, Plato26.^ a b Aristotle in Poetics, S.H. Butcher27.^ The Essays of Michel De Montaigne, Michel de Montaigne name28.^ Essays, Francis Bacon29.^ a b Martinich, Aloysius (1995), Hobbes Dictionary, Blackwell page 27, citing Leviathan 5.7.30.^ a b Leviathan, Chapter V (http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=585&layout=html#chapter_89826) .

31.

^ The Perception of Humor, Willibald Ruch, Emotions, qualia, and consciousness, Biocybernetics, VOl. 1032.^ How Many Feminists Does It Take To Make A Joke? Sexist Humor and What's Wrong With It, MemoBergmann, Hypatia, Vol.1, Issue 1, March 1986

33.

^ Humor as a Double-Edged Sword: Four Functions of Humor in Communication, JC Meyer, CommunicationTheory, Volume 10, Issue 3, pages 310–331, August 2000

34.

^ Wittgensteinian Accounts of Moorean Absurdity, Philosophical Studies, Volume 92, Number 3, John N.Williams, [9] (http://www.springerlink.com/content/t77l87484l2860mu/)

35.

^ A Constructive Approach to Testing Model Transformations, Theory and Practice of Model Transformations,Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2010, Volume 6142/2010, 77-92, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-13688-7_6(http://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2F978-3-642-13688-7_6) , Camillo Fiorentini, Alberto Momigliano, Mario Ornaghi,Iman Poernomo, [10] (http://www.springerlink.com/content/n572730744340m56/)

36.

^ Classical harmony, Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, Volume 27, Number 4 (1986), 459-482, Alan Weir37.^ Logic, methodology and philosophy of science: Proceedings, Patrick Suppes [11] (http://books.google.com/books?id=QUgmsMm5LcAC&pg=PA243&lpg=PA243&dq=Absurdity+constant+Suppes&source=bl&ots=xkoEeQ8WGF&sig=9S55s11JoR22Pov8IGBHV7qKhXA&hl=en&ei=Eh9kTa_ZDo-ssAPoksygCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#)

38.

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