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Philosophy vocabulary · Logic and Argument

Contradiction

Meaning in philosophy, with examples

/ˌkɒntrəˈdɪkʃən/nounCore term

In philosophy, contradiction means: A statement, or a pair of statements, that cannot possibly be true, such as claiming both that something is the case and that it is not.

In Turkish: çelişki

How it is used

The law of non-contradiction says nothing can be both P and not-P at the same time and in the same respect. Showing that a view leads to a contradiction is a standard way to refute it (reductio ad absurdum). The adjective is contradictory.

Example sentences

  1. If your theory implies both that he is free and that he isn't, you have a contradiction.

  2. Hegel believed that contradiction drives the development of ideas.

Common collocations

  • law of non-contradiction
  • lead to a contradiction
  • derive a contradiction
  • a contradiction in terms
  • tautologyIn logic, a statement that is true in every possible case because of its form alone, such as 'Either it is raining or it is not raining'.
  • paradoxAn argument that starts from apparently true premises and uses apparently valid reasoning, yet reaches a conclusion that seems false or contradictory.
  • logicThe study of correct reasoning, especially of which conclusions follow from which premises and why.
  • dialecticA method of reaching truth through the clash of opposing positions, from the questions and answers of Plato's dialogues to Hegel's account of ideas developing through contradiction.

More terms: Logic and Argument

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