| 释义 |
contradiction|kɒntrəˈdɪkʃən|
Forms: 4–5 contradiccioun, 5 -diccion(e, -dyctyon, -dixion, 6 -dyccyon, -diccyon, -dictioun, -dictione, 5 – contradiction.
[a. F. contradiction, -dicciun, -dicion (12th c. in Littré), ad. L. contrādictiōn-em, n. of action from contrādīcĕre to contradict.]
1. The action of speaking against or in opposition to (an action, proposal, etc.); gainsaying; opposition.
c1382Wyclif Ps. liv. 10 [lv. 9], I saȝ wickidnesse and contradiccioun [1388 aȝenseiyng] in the cite. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 204 Al the peple of that contre..without contradyctyon came and yelded them. 1533Bellenden Livy i. (1822) 20 Romulus..come..on his toun, and tuke the sammin, with small contradictioun. 1582N. T. (Rhem.) Heb. xii. 3 Thinke diligently vpon him which sustained of sinners such contradiction against himself. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 124. 1661 Bramhall Just Vind. iv. 79 The Saxon Kings in all ages bestowed Bishopricks without any contradiction. 1712Steele Spect. No. 264 ⁋1 There are those who pursue their own Way out of a Sourness and Spirit of Contradiction. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 347 This rule should be extended, in contradiction to the particular intention of the testator. 1841Myers Cath. Th. iii. §32. 118 It could only be by continual constraint and contradiction of his impulses.
2. The action of contradicting or declaring to be untrue or erroneous; affirming the contrary; assertion of the direct opposite; denial.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 173 Y⊇ enuyous & irous persone maketh sore contradiccyon & replyeth. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 175 Libertie of overthwarting in language and unseemely contradiction. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. vii. 40 Without contradiction I haue heard that. 1683D. A. Art Converse 24 Some are so possess'd with the spirit of contradiction. 1794S. Williams Vermont 167 Impatience at contradiction. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. xiv. 304 He cites Ebel, Hugi, Agassiz..and places them in open contradiction to each other.
3. A statement that contradicts or denies the truth or correctness of another.
1724Watts Logic ii. iii. §3 vi, Truth is lost in the noise and tumult of reciprocal contradictions. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 179 Almost a contradiction of what is said by Moor. Mod. It contains an official contradiction of the recent rumours.
4. A state or condition of opposition in things compared; variance; inconsistency, contrariety.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 418 But the authoritie of Cicero..is at contradiction with this barbarous opinion. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxviii. §6 One must needs see if there be any contradiction between them. 1777Priestley Matt. & Spir. (1782) I. vi. 65 The manifest contradiction between these two accounts..hardly needs to be pointed out. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 139 Angry contumelies..in contradiction with each other. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola (1878) 319 The contradiction between men's lives and their professed beliefs had pressed upon him.
b. Logical inconsistency or incongruity.
1613J. Salkeld Treat. Angels 235 Such is the omnipotence of God, that..it can effectuate whatsoever implyeth not contradiction. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. vi. §22 There appears no Contradiction that there should be such. 1862H. Spencer First Princ. i. iv. §26 Unless a real Non-relative or Absolute be postulated, the Relative itself becomes absolute; and so brings the argument to a contradiction.
c. Logic. One of the four kinds of Opposition (contradiction, contrariety, sub-contrariety, sub-alternation): see quot. 1864. principle (or law) of contradiction: the axiom that ‘a thing cannot be and not be at the same time’ or ‘that nothing can have at the same time and at the same place contradictory and inconsistent qualities’.
1836–7Sir. W. Hamilton Metaph. xxxviii. (1870) II. 368 The highest of all logical laws.. is what is called the principle of Contradiction, or more correctly the principle of Non-Contradiction. It is this: A thing cannot be and not be at the same time. 1850McCosh Div. Govt. iii. i. (1874) 278. 1864 Bowen Logic iii. 49 Here we have the well-known Law of Contradiction. Ibid. vi. 162 There are four sorts of Opposition. The first and most perfect of these is that of Contradiction, which exists between two Judgments which differ from each other both in Quantity and Quality.
5. A statement containing propositions one of which denies or is logically at variance with the other; also a contradictory proposition.
c1400Test. Love ii. (1560) 284 b/1 Understanden well these termes, and look no contradiction thou graunt. 1588Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. i. 2 b, As though the naturall facultie of reason were an art of reasoning, which is contrarie to all reason, and includeth in it selfe a manifest contradiction. 1628T. Spencer Logick 175 A Contradiction is when the same Axiome is affirmed, and denyed. 1648Fanshawe Pastor Fido 186 That man that utters contradictions must Speak one untruth. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. xii. 58 Both parts of a contradiction cannot possibly be true. c1705Berkeley Commpl. Bk. in Fraser Life 467 Contradictions cannot be both true. 1858Mansel Bampton Lect. ii. (ed. 4) 39 The conception of the Absolute and Infinite..appears encompassed with contradictions.
b. A statement or phrase which is self-contradictory on the face of it: more fully a contradiction in terms.
[1667Milton P.L. x. 799 Can he make deathless Death? That were to make Strange contradiction, which to God himself Impossible is held. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 596 Contradictions become elegance and propriety of language, for a thing may be excessively moderate, vastly little, monstrous pretty, wonderous common, prodigious natural, or devilish godly.] 1795T. Meek Sophistry detected 11 He grants the possibility of a revelation, but he is not aware that his ideas of language make it absolutely impossible, which is a contradiction in terms. 1856Ferrier Inst. Metaph. iv. xvi. 135 Why is a two-sided triangle a contradiction? 1862H. Spencer First Princ. i. iii. §19 A state later than the last, which is a contradiction. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 9 A virtuous tyrant is a contradiction in terms.
6. A contradictory act, fact, or condition; an inconsistency.
1614Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. (1617) 468 Alas, how full are you of contradictions to your selfe! how full of contrary purposes! 1732Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 393 The only Contradiction to this is too great Heat and Thirst. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 178 ⁋3 An attempt to make contradictions consistent. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Ability Wks. (Bohn) II. 42 England subsists by antagonisms and contradictions.
7. A person made up of contradictory qualities.
1735Pope Ep. Lady 270 And yet, believe me, good as well as ill, Woman's at best a contradiction still.
8. Comb., as contradiction-trap.
1744Warburton Rem. sev. Occas. Refl. 137 He has catched me in his Contradiction-Trap. |