Chapter 7

Refuting an argument is showing that an argument is bad. There are 3 direct ways of refuting an argument: (Epstein, p. 149)

1. Show that at least one of the premises is dubious.
2. Show that the argument isn't valid or strong.
3. Show that the conclusion is false.

And when refuting an argument indirectly, it is sometimes hard to point out a premise that is false or dubious, but you know there's something wrong with the premises. You might get the conclusion that's argued for, but you get a lot more, too-which leads premises to an absurdity(Epstein, p. 149-150).

Reducing to the absurd is to reduce to the absurd is to show that at least one of several claims is false or dubious, or collectively they are unacceptable, by drawing a false or unwanted conclusion from them(Epstein, p. 150). If a valid or strong argument has a false conclusion, one of the premises is false. And if the conclusion is absurd, the premises aren't what you want.