矛盾 / 모순 / Contradiction
This site is about contradiction. A contradiction occurs when two mutually exclusive propositions are both asserted to be true. The word mosun (모순) derives from the Chinese mujun (矛盾) -- literally "spear-shield" -- from a parable about a merchant who sold an unstoppable spear and an unbreakable shield.
| THESIS | ANTITHESIS | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| This statement is true. | This statement is false. | UNRESOLVED |
| The ship is the same ship. | No part of the original remains. | UNRESOLVED |
| The spear pierces all shields. | The shield blocks all spears. | UNRESOLVED |
| Change requires permanence. | Permanence denies change. | UNRESOLVED |
| Order produces chaos. | Chaos produces order. | BOTH TRUE |
Without the law of non-contradiction, reasoning collapses. If a proposition and its negation can both be true, then everything is true, and truth loses meaning. Logic requires that contradictions be eliminated, not embraced. A system that tolerates contradiction tolerates anything -- and a system that tolerates anything says nothing.
Paraconsistent logics demonstrate that contradiction need not be explosive. Dialectical traditions from Hegel to Nagarjuna treat contradiction as the engine of understanding, not its enemy. Reality itself may be contradictory -- quantum superposition, wave-particle duality. Perhaps logic should describe what is, not prescribe what must be.
[This counter contradicts itself. The count includes this statement. Updating the count changes the count. The counter is both accurate and inaccurate.]
<!-- This is a website about contradiction.
It contradicts itself by existing.
A website about contradiction that
contains no contradictions would be
the greatest contradiction of all. -->