Word of the day: Antimony

Antinomy

[an-TIN-ə-mee]

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, 16th century

A contradiction between two beliefs or conclusions that are in themselves reasonable; a paradox.

Examples of antinomy in a sentence

"Susan is aware that being a superstitious atheist is an antinomy, but she still knocks on wood."

"It may seem like an antinomy that in order to succeed, one must fail often, but it’s a matter of gaining experience and learning how to avoid failure in the future."

About Antinomy

“Antinomy” is based on the Latin “antinomia,” meaning “contradiction.”

Did you Know?

“Antinomy” is a word for logical paradox or inconsistency closely associated with 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant. In his book “Critique of Pure Reason,” Kant introduced a number of logical paradoxes now known as “Kant’s antinomies” to show how two equally reasonable ideas could ultimately contradict one another. For example, Kant made a carefully reasoned argument that the universe and time had a beginning and strict borders, and then made an equally logical argument concluding the universe and time were both without beginning or end. The goal of Kant’s antinomies was to show how reason alone was not enough to resolve metaphysical problems, because even the best-reasoned arguments could ultimately arrive at opposite conclusions.