antinomy
Americannoun
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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
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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.
Anyhow, in the land of Atlantis or Antinomy a child was born in this manner and grew up not with Mother or Father but in independence and its relationship with the Earth and the sun.
From Tokyo to Tijuana: Gabriele Departing America by Sills, Steven (Steven David Justin)
"Unlike present day Ithaca, in the land of Ancient Atlantis, which the residents of this small island called Antinomy, there was harmony."
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 land of Antinomy was warm, you know.
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.
