'law of the excluded middle' definitions:

Definition of 'law of the excluded middle'

From: 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]