From: Steve Davies (steve365@btinternet.com)
Date: Sat Oct 26 2002 - 11:36:27 MDT
Lee said
>
> A very common error, evidently. When the joke
> is executed whereby it's claimed "Military
> Intelligence is an oxymoron", people usually
> take that to imply that "MI" is a contradiction
> in terms. Do you have *good* examples of
> oxymorons?
It is a common error. When people use the term "oxymoron" it's almost always
clear (as in the case above) that a "contradiction in terms" is what they
are actually talking about. One of the examples you gave (a mournful
optimist) is a good one. A cruel kindness would be another one.
Lee again
> Also, it's not clear to me whether the class of
> oxymorons is a subset of the class of CITs, or
> vice versa---or if indeed either is a subset of
> the other.
Neither is a subset of the other since they are terms from different
disciplines. "Oxymoron" is a term from rhetoric and is the name for a
specific trope i.e. a way of using or combining words to create an effect in
the mind of the listener (in this case to get their attention and make them
think). "Contradiction in terms" comes from logic and the theory of
definitions. In pure form it's "An a not a" where A and Not A are combined
in a single definition or premiss. To argue that a concept such as
"anarcho-capitalism" is a CIT is a lazy way out since it depends on
definitions to work rather than empirical evidence or deduction. It also
enables you to avoid empirical responses by simply reiterating your
definitional argument. In this case there is ample empirical evidence that
property can exist as an institution in the absence of what we would
normally call a state.
Steve Davies
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