contradiction
10
5.6
- noun
- /ˌkɒntrəˈdɪkʃən/
- Specialized
:
contradicción
- In logic, a contradiction occurs when two statements cannot both be true at the same time.
- logical contradiction
- direct contradiction
- self-contradiction
Yes, God can do all things, but logical contradictions aren't things.
- Yes, God can do all things, but logical contradictions aren't things.
- Or another thing we look for are contradictions where with things which can't both be true.
- And the contradiction reveals to us the weakness of the position.
- Like it doesn't seem like, OK, so you know, well, you can drive a contradiction in in this theory.
- Well, the problem comes from combining a certain set of assumptions, doing a calculation and arriving at a contradiction.
- Aristotle enunciates and defends law in the Metaphysics, and it's clear that he's attacking some people who he thinks accepts some contradictions.
- This is the contradiction that the phantasm contains.
Examples
-
The notion of an evil nature was a contradiction in terms.
Academic text (1990) -
So we'll do the proof by contradiction that P has to be bigger than one.
-
This is a proof by contradiction showing that our construction must be wrong.
-
So that means that X is not in this set, a contradiction because we assumed it was.
-
And the contradiction reveals to us the weakness of the position.
-
Policies are often vague, redundant, and occasionally appear to be in direct contradiction to each other.
Academic text (2008) -
There is, of course, no contradiction in a God of infinite spaces and a localized region in space.
Academic text (2001) -
It's a logical contradiction.
-
As Eugene Goodheart comments, "Desire is normally linked to indeterminacy, contradiction, chaos, inconsistency."
Academic text (1999) -
A devout reader will be unnerved at finding a contradiction between biblically mandated practices and his or her own practices.
Academic text (2006)
Synonyms
6
6.8
A statement that says two things that cannot both be true
A symbol in logic that always means false
Antonyms
Compounds
How Contradictory
Surface Forms
Morphology
contradiction = contradict (transparent) = contradict + ion
Formed from 'contradict' + '-ion'; in logic it names the (necessarily false) result of contradictory components but the morphological derivation is regular.
Etymology
Contradiction comes from the Latin parts contra meaning 'against' and dicere meaning 'to say', so it is like 'to say against'. In logic this becomes a statement that holds two opposite claims at once, which is why it must be false.