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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rambi who wrote (6000)	12/2/2005 11:11:04 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542936

I think the criminal law has the right idea on this- wrt mitigation. As far as I remember (and I didn't look this up, so maybe I'm wrong) you get charged with the crime, but the surrounding events of the crime can be used for mitigation (and I'm not dealing with jury nullification- which can, in certain circumstances, simply let people off).

To: Rambi who wrote (6000)	12/2/2005 12:19:00 PM
From: Mary Cluney	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542936

Is there a term for taking an argument to an extreme to prove the ends justifies the means? I am sure you know about Reductio ad absurdum. Reductio ad absurdum is a mode of argumentation that seeks to establish a contention by deriving an absurdity from its denial, thus arguing that a thesis must be accepted because its rejection would be untenable. It is a style of reasoning that has been employed throughout the history of mathematics and philosophy from classical antiquity onwards. But, that is probably not what you are asking for. What you are asking for is to come up with a name for a new mode of argumentation that is frequently exhibited on SI and in the op-ed pages of newspapers and that is to take an argument to the conclusion that one came in to begin with. I recommend calling it "Looney Tunes ad absurdum". That is, you take a Looney Tunes position and you carry it forward to the conclusion you wanted it to come to in the first place.