reductio ad absurdum,

[JohnRoberts]

for today's dose of Latin... "apagogical arguments, is the form of argument that attempts to establish a claim by showing that the opposite scenario would lead to absurdity or contradiction."

The most obvious example of this is in speed limit discussions where the observation that 0 MPH speed limits would eliminate all traffic deaths (obviously impractical). That said we see this strategy crop up all the time in modern political debate mostly to discredit opposition viewpoints.

I can think of examples from almost every political dispute. That said I don't need to help you guys pick arguments.

JR

 

[cyrano]

20% of all traffic accidents are caused by drunk drivers.

We should all be drunk while driving, as it would reduce accidents by 80%.

 

[JohnRoberts]

20% of all traffic accidents are caused by drunk drivers.

We should all be drunk while driving, as it would reduce accidents by 80%.

I spent years practicing driving at speed while alcohol impaired. This prepared me for age related slowing reaction times.

JR

 

[cyrano]

We were "allowed" a lot of things when we were young. Some of them, like someone changing cars through the window at 60 MPH while drunk weren't very smart, in hindsight.

There was a piece in the paper a few years ago saying that kid's playgrounds should be a little more dangerous. No rubber tiles and stuff like that, cause kids need to find out for themselves what's dangerous.