An absurdity is a thing that is extremely unreasonable, so as to be foolish or not taken seriously, or the state of being so. "Absurd" is an adjective used to describe an absurdity, e.g., "this encyclopedia article is absurd." It derives from the Latin absurdusm meaning "out of tune", hence irrational. The Latin surdus means "deaf", implying stupidity. Absurdity is contrasted with seriousness in reasoning. In general usage, absurdity may be synonymous with ridiculousness and nonsense. In specialized usage, absurdity is related to extremes in bad reasoning or pointlessness in reasoning; ridiculousness is related to extremes of incongruous juxtaposition, laughter, and ridicule; and nonsense is related to a lack of meaningfulness.
Read more about Absurdity: Demarcation Between Absurdity and Sound Reasoning, Humor and Point Making, Doctrine of Absurdity, Reduction To Absurdity: Reductio Ad Absurdum in Polemics, Logic and Mathematics, Theology, History
Famous quotes containing the word absurdity:
“Modern man must descend the spiral of his own absurdity to the lowest point; only then can he look beyond it. It is obviously impossible to get around it, jump over it, or simply avoid it.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)
“Having become conscious of the truth he once perceived, man now sees only the awfulness or the absurdity of existence, he now understands the symbolic element in Ophelia’s fate, he now recognizes the wisdom of the woodland god, Silenus: it nauseates him.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)