law of the excluded middle
(gcide) | Contradiction \Con`tra*dic"tion\, n. [L. contradictio answer,
objection: cf. F. contradiction.]
1. An assertion of the contrary to what has been said or
affirmed; denial of the truth of a statement or assertion;
contrary declaration; gainsaying.
[1913 Webster]
His fair demands
Shall be accomplished without contradiction. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. Direct opposition or repugnancy; inconsistency;
incongruity or contrariety; one who, or that which, is
inconsistent.
[1913 Webster]
can he make deathless death? That were to make
Strange contradiction. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
We state our experience and then we come to a manly
resolution of acting in contradiction to it.
--Burke.
[1913 Webster]
Both parts of a contradiction can not possibly be
true. --Hobbes.
[1913 Webster]
Of contradictions infinite the slave. --Wordsworth.
[1913 Webster]
Principle of contradiction (Logic), the axiom or law of
thought that a thing cannot be and not be at the same
time, or a thing must either be or not be, or the same
attribute can not at the same time be affirmed and and
denied of the same subject; also called the {law of the
excluded middle}.
Note: It develops itself in three specific forms which have
been called the "Three Logical Axioms." First, "A is
A." Second, "A is not Not-A" Third, "Everything is
either A or Not-A."
[1913 Webster] |