law of contradiction

American  

noun

Logic.

1. the law that a proposition cannot be both true and false or that a thing cannot both have and not have a given property.

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Example Sentences

The law of contradiction, after all, is not enforceable; if it were the jails would overflow.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2016

For example, the law of contradiction states that nothing can both have a certain property and not have it.

From The Problems of Philosophy by Russell, Bertrand

God has to submit to the logical law of contradiction, and He cannot, according to the theologians, cause two and two to make either more or less than four.

From Tragic Sense Of Life by Flitch, J. E. Crawford (John Ernest Crawford)

Now in order to know whether two propositions can both be true, we must know such truths as the law of contradiction.

From The Problems of Philosophy by Russell, Bertrand

The most signal defect of monophysite method is its unquestioning submission to the Aristotelian law of contradiction.

From Monophysitism Past and Present A Study in Christology by Luce, A. A. (Arthur Aston)