Hossein Jorjani
First publication: 2026 – 07 – 22
The term contradiction has acquired different meanings in different philosophical traditions. Unless these meanings are distinguished, discussions of dialectic and philosophical method can easily become confused.
In formal logic, a contradiction is stronger than a mere opposition or distinction. Two propositions are contradictory when they cannot both be true at the same time and in the same respect. For example:
- Socrates is alive.
- Socrates is not alive.
If both statements refer to the same person at the same moment and in the same sense, one of them must be false. Their simultaneous truth is logically impossible.
By contrast, many concepts commonly described as opposites are not logically contradictory. Matter and mind, unity and multiplicity, continuity and discontinuity, or subject and object differ from one another, but they are not contradictory merely because they are distinct. They become contradictory only if the affirmation of one logically excludes the possibility of the other.
The expression dialectical contradiction should therefore not be confused with logical contradiction. In Marx, for example, the coexistence of collective production and private ownership is described as contradictory, not because these conditions cannot coexist—they plainly do—but because Marx regarded their coexistence as generating internal tensions that would eventually transform the capitalist system. Whether that interpretation is accepted or rejected is independent of the logical meaning of contradiction.
Distinguishing logical contradiction from dialectical contradiction helps clarify many philosophical disputes. It also illustrates a broader hermeneutical principle: philosophical terms cannot be assumed to retain the same meaning across different authors. Before evaluating an argument, one must first determine how its central concepts are being used.
Hossein Jorjani 