Contradiction

Abstract

In classical Western logic, “contradiction” refers to the conjunction of two opposite propositions. The law of non-contradiction is the most fundamental principle of Aristotelian logic. According to this law, an object can’t possess opposite properties at the same time and in the same respect, i.e., “S is both P and not-P at the same time and in the same aspect” (the conjunction of “S is P” and “S is not P”) can’t be true, if P and not-P are contradictory opposites or contrary opposites. But, “S is both P and not-P” is often asserted and even taken for granted by Chinese philosophers. However, the apparent inconsistency between many Chinese paradoxical propositions and the law of non-contradiction will disappear, once the context of the former is understood. Furthermore, contextualized “S is P and not-P” in Chinese philosophy reveals something very significant: dialectical relations are real, and things always exist as the unity of opposites. Although “S cannot be P and not-P” is logically consistent, it is an abstraction that does not take the context of the utterance and multi-dimension of things into consideration. On the contrary, a proposition like “S is P and not-P,” though paradoxical, reflects reality better since dialectical relations present in everything and everywhere.