antinomy
Americannoun
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antinomies
plural
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
Philosophers similarly examined the antinomy of the individual and the group, shaped by the periods of history and the dialectic.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 31, 2021
“The essay is structurally flawed by a false antinomy, an either/or scenario doomed to generate opinions rather than dialogue. Anyway, who wants to have an argument that only has two sides?”
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 28, 2019
When Heidl is willing to talk to Kehlmann, he talks in a qualmless gala of paranoia and parentheses, of non sequitur and evasion, of conspiracy and antinomy, of sundered sermons.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2018
Thus an antinomy appears in the one extreme of natural science, and a corresponding one will appear in the other.
From The World As Will And Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer
In confessing mystery and resting content with it we are justified by reflection on the nature and antinomy of our knowledge.
From Naturalism And Religion by Rudolf Otto
TIN SWE Rangoon, Burma Sir: Although I am not a Buddhist, I interpreted your article on the subject as an unregenerate evaluation of the antinomies of a great religion.
From Time Magazine Archive
Many problems facing the church in Asian countries today stem as much from changing social and cultural conditions as they do from traditional antinomies.
From Time Magazine Archive
The old antinomies of the infinite were, I imagine, the irritant that first woke his faculties from their dogmatic slumber.
From A Pluralistic Universe Hibbert Lectures at Manchester College on the Present Situation in Philosophy by William James
A program of social education, we say, might be based upon a consideration of these antinomies.
From The Psychology of Nations A Contribution to the Philosophy of History by G.E. Partridge
There are four of these antinomies, or conflicts.
From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 14 — Philosophy and Economics by Sir John Alexander Hammerton
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.
