Emphasis instead of negation in 「そんなバカなことはありません」


In this quote by Akihiro Miwa, 「そんな～ことはありません」 isn't used the way I'd expect it
to be:

> 努力{どりょく}をしない人も[平等]{びょうどう}になどと、そんなバカなことはありません。  
> It's (extremely?) foolish to treat people who don't make an effort equally.

I think 「そんな～ことはありません」 is used for emphasis here, but is using negation in
this way common and how does "there aren't those kind of foolish things"
become "extremely foolish"?




`そんなバカなことはありません` has two interpretations in arbitrary context.

>   1. Literally meaning "those foolish things" are not existent.
>
>   2. It means that those things set a new precedent for foolishness. That is
> to say that it was unprecedented, or exaggerated to appear unprecedented. So
> one way to understand it would be to take it as "extremely foolish".
>
>




You are right that in your example, そんなバカなことはありません means “It is extremely
foolish.” I think that the literal meaning of this expression is “There is
nothing as foolish as such a thing,” from which the meaning “It is extremely
foolish” follows logically.

