antinomy
Americannoun
plural
antinomies-
opposition between one law, principle, rule, etc., and another.
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Philosophy. a contradiction between two statements, both apparently obtained by correct reasoning.
noun
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opposition of one law, principle, or rule to another; contradiction within a law
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philosophy contradiction existing between two apparently indubitable propositions; paradox
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of antinomy
1585–95; < Latin antinomia < Greek antinomía a contradiction between laws. See anti-, -nomy
Explanation
If two contradictory statements both seem reasonable and true, you can call this conundrum an antinomy. The noun comes from the Latin and Greek word antinomia, which meant a contradiction in the law. The philosopher Immanuel Kant famously suggested four antinomies. One of them stated that the world had a definite beginning and will have a definite end. On the other hand, Kant added, the world is infinite in terms of time and space. Both statements at first blush appear reasonable, but since it's impossible that the world could be both finite and infinite, the two ideas together form an antinomy.
Vocabulary lists containing antinomy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The land of Antinomy was warm, you know.
From Tokyo to Tijuana: Gabriele Departing America by Sills, Steven (Steven David Justin)
And as I wish to prove the existence of simple substances, only in relation to, and as the elements of, the composite, I might term the antithesis of the second Antinomy, transcendental Atomistic.
From The Critique of Pure Reason by Meiklejohn, John Miller Dow
The Antinomy is a combination of arguments by which contradictory attributes are proved to be predicable of the same subject.
From Logic Deductive and Inductive by Read, Carveth
There would have been a different reality if Antinomy had been a little island off of our beloved motherland of Antarctica.
From Tokyo to Tijuana: Gabriele Departing America by Sills, Steven (Steven David Justin)
Antinomy simply expresses a fact, and forces itself imperatively on the mind; contradiction, properly speaking, is an absurdity.
From System of Economical Contradictions; or, the Philosophy of Misery by Proudhon, P.-J. (Pierre-Joseph)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
