paradox

paradox, antinomy, anomaly are comparable terms that involve the idea of expressing or revealing an inner or inherent contradiction and are therefore not always clearly distinguished.

A paradox is primarily a statement or proposition which contains a contradiction yet which, absurd as it seems to be, may still be true and in accordance with the facts and common sense

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the perfectly bred man is born, not bred, if the paradox may be permitted— Brownell

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By extension paradox may apply to something which is known to exist, yet which when described or put in words seems incredible because it involves a logical contradiction

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the old will perennially become new at the hand of genius. That is the paradox of art— Lowes

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the colonel... is a paradox—a well-known secret agent— Kobler

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An antinomy, in philosophical use, is a contradiction between two laws, principles, or conclusions, both of which are held on good grounds or are correctly inferred from the same facts or premises; thus, the conclusions that every material thing can be explained by mechanical causes and that some material things cannot be explained unless a final cause is postulated, present an antinomy, but in the opinion of Kant both can be accepted as rules regulative of experience. In more general use the term is often applied to one thing that contradicts another thing and is irreconcilable with it

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form and expression ... should stand toward one another not as clashing antinomies but as reconciled opposites— Babbitt

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or it may apply to a conflict (as of principles, beliefs, forces, tendencies, or aspirations) that is irresolvable in the light of present knowledge

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a mind that is not naturally analytical, and conscious of the antinomies of existence— Amer. Speech

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every dogma is but one side of an inevitable antinomy— Cushing

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the antinomy between contented security and adventure for gain, between equalitarian justice and the justice of rewards—an antinomy whose resolution calls for a reasonable compromise and not a clear-cut choice— Aron

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An anomaly is something that is contrary to what it should be. For example, it may be an exception or a contradiction to a rule; it may be a freak, a monster, a sport, or a contradiction to a type; it may be an anachronism or solecism, irreconcilable with its surroundings or conditions; it may be an action, a practice, or a mood, that is in effect a denial of what one believes or teaches

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there is no greater anomaly in nature than a bird that cannot fly— Darwin

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the anomaly of a war fought to preserve freedom by a people enslaved by prejudice— Quentin Anderson

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the political world must keep pace with the scientific world. A security league, in an age of flight, is an anomaly—E. B. White

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