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Antithesis (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 for "setting opposite", from against + position) is a counter-proposition
Proposition

This article is about the term proposition in logic and philosophy; for other uses see PropositionIn logic and philosophy, proposition refers to either the "content" or Meaning of a meaningful declarative sentence or the pattern of symbols, marks, or sounds that make up a meaningful declarative sentence....
 and denotes a direct contrast
Contrast

Contrast is the dissimilarity or difference between things:* Contrast , expressing distinctions between words* Contrast , the difference in color and light between parts of an image....
 to the original proposition. In setting the opposite, an individual brings out of a contrast in the meaning (eg., the definition
Definition

A definition is a statement of the Meaning of a word or phrase. The term to be defined is known as the definiendum . The words which define it are known as the definiens ....
, interpretation
Interpretation (logic)

In logic an interpretation gives meaning to an artificial or formal language or to a Sentence of such a language by assigning a denotation to each non-logical symbol in that language or in that sentence....
, or semantics
Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in communication. The word is derived from the Greek language word s??a?t???? , "significant", from s??a??? , "to signify, to indicate" and that from s??a , "sign, mark, token"....
) by an obvious contrast in the expression
Idiom

An idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be determined by the literal definition of the phrase itself, but refers instead to a figurative language meaning that is known only through common use....
.

mplistic description of dialectic
Dialectic

Dialectic is a method of argument, which has been central to both Eastern and Western philosophy since ancient times. The word "dialectic" originates in Ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato's Socratic dialogues....
s is thesis
Thesis

A dissertation is a document that presents the author's research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification....
, antithesis, synthesis
Synthesis

The term synthesis is used in many fields, usually to mean a process which combines together two or more pre-existing elements resulting in the formation of something new....
. Hell is the antithesis of Heaven; disorder is the antithesis of order.






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Antithesis (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 for "setting opposite", from against + position) is a counter-proposition
Proposition

This article is about the term proposition in logic and philosophy; for other uses see PropositionIn logic and philosophy, proposition refers to either the "content" or Meaning of a meaningful declarative sentence or the pattern of symbols, marks, or sounds that make up a meaningful declarative sentence....
 and denotes a direct contrast
Contrast

Contrast is the dissimilarity or difference between things:* Contrast , expressing distinctions between words* Contrast , the difference in color and light between parts of an image....
 to the original proposition. In setting the opposite, an individual brings out of a contrast in the meaning (eg., the definition
Definition

A definition is a statement of the Meaning of a word or phrase. The term to be defined is known as the definiendum . The words which define it are known as the definiens ....
, interpretation
Interpretation (logic)

In logic an interpretation gives meaning to an artificial or formal language or to a Sentence of such a language by assigning a denotation to each non-logical symbol in that language or in that sentence....
, or semantics
Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in communication. The word is derived from the Greek language word s??a?t???? , "significant", from s??a??? , "to signify, to indicate" and that from s??a , "sign, mark, token"....
) by an obvious contrast in the expression
Idiom

An idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be determined by the literal definition of the phrase itself, but refers instead to a figurative language meaning that is known only through common use....
.

Description

A simplistic description of dialectic
Dialectic

Dialectic is a method of argument, which has been central to both Eastern and Western philosophy since ancient times. The word "dialectic" originates in Ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato's Socratic dialogues....
s is thesis
Thesis

A dissertation is a document that presents the author's research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification....
, antithesis, synthesis
Synthesis

The term synthesis is used in many fields, usually to mean a process which combines together two or more pre-existing elements resulting in the formation of something new....
. Hell is the antithesis of Heaven; disorder is the antithesis of order. It is the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, usually in a balanced way. In rhetoric
Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of using language as a means to persuade. Along with logic and dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse....
, it is a figure of speech
Figure of speech

A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetoric, or locution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. Figures of speech are often used and crafted for emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity....
 involving the bringing out of a contrast in the idea
Idea

An idea is a form formed by consciousness through the process of Ideation . Human capability to contemplate ideas is associated with the ability of reasoning, human self-reflection, and of the ability to acquire and apply intellect, intuition, inspiration, etc.....
s by an obvious contrast in the word
Word

A word is a unit of language that represents a concept which can be expressively communication with Meaning . A word consists of one or more morphemes which are linked more or less tightly together, and has a phonetic value....
s, clause
Clause

In grammar, a clause is a pair of words or group of words that consists of a subject and a predicate , although in some languages and some types of clauses, the subject may not appear explicitly as a noun phrase....
s, or sentence
Sentence (linguistics)

In linguistics, a sentence is a grammatical unit of one or more words, bearing minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it, often preceded and followed in speech by pauses, having one of a small number of characteristic intonation patterns, and typically expressing an independent statement, question, request, command, et...
s, within a parallel grammatical structure, as in the following:
"When there is need of silence, you speak, and when there is need of speech, you are dumb; when present, you wish to be absent, and when absent, you desire to be present; in peace you are for war, and in war you long for peace; in council you descant on bravery, and in the battle you tremble."
Antithesis is sometimes double or alternate, as in the appeal of Augustus:
"Listen, young men, to an old man to whom old men were glad to listen when he was young."
Among English writers who have made the most abundant use of antithesis are Pope
Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope is generally regarded as the greatest England poet of the eighteenth century, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer....
, Young, Johnson
Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson was an English author. Beginning as a Grub Street journalist, he made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer....
, and Gibbon
Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788....
; and especially Lyly
John Lyly

John Lyly was an England writer, best known for his books Euphues, The Anatomy of Wit and Euphues and His England. Lyly's linguistic style, originating in his first books, is known as Euphuism....
 in his Euphues. It is, however, a much more common feature in French than in English; while in German, with some striking exceptions, it is conspicuous by its absence. The familiar phrase “Man proposes: God disposes” is an example of antithesis, as is John Dryden
John Dryden

John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of English Restoration to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden....
's description in “The Hind and the Panther”: “Too black for heaven, and yet too white for hell.”

The force of the antithesis is increased if the words on which the beat of the contrast falls are alliterative
Alliteration

Alliteration is the repeated occurrence of a consonant sound at the beginning of several words in the same phrase. Consonance is the repetition of the same consonant sound anywhere in a string of words, not just the initial sound as is in alliteration....
, or otherwise similar in sound. It gives an expression greater point and vivacity than a judicious employment of this figure.

Biblical

The Antithesis of the Law
Expounding of the Law

The Expounding of the Law , sometimes called the Expounding of the Law#Antithesis of the Law, is a highly structured part of the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament of the Bible....
 is the name given by some New Testament
New Testament

The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christianity Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
 scholars to a section of the Sermon on the Mount
Sermon on the Mount

In the Gospel of St. Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount is a compilation of Jesus' sayings, epitomizing his Ethics in religion#Christian ethics....
, , in which Jesus
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
 is reported as taking six well known prescriptions of the Mosaic Law, and calling on his followers to do more than the law requires. The best known is perhaps his teaching on retaliation in ,
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (KJB).
The antithesis arises from the turn of phrase, repeated with minor variations in each of the six sayings,
"Ye have heard that it hath been said... But I say unto you...".
Protestant scholars since the Reformation have generally believed that Jesus was setting His teaching over against false interpretations of the law current at the time. The states:
"As Schechter in "J. Q. R." x. 11, shows, the expression "Ye have heard .." is an inexact translation of the rabbinical formula (???? ???), which is only a formal logical interrogation introducing the opposite view as the only correct one: "Ye might deduce from this verse [] that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, but I say to you the only correct interpretation is, Love all men, even thine enemies.""


Antithesis was the name given by Marcion to a document in which he contrasted the Old Testament
Old Testament

In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christianity Bible Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions....
 with the New Testament
New Testament

The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christianity Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
.

In fiction

In fiction
Fiction

Fiction is an imaginative form of narrative, one of the four basic rhetorical modes. Although the word fiction is derived from the Latin fingo, fingere, finxi, fictum, "to form, create", works of fiction need not be entirely imaginary and may include real people, places, and events....
, an antithesis can be used to describe a character who presents the exact opposite as to personality type, moral outlook, etc. to another character in a particular piece of literature. This does not mean however, that they are necessarily in conflict with each other. Some examples of an antithesis in fiction include the characters of Locke and Jack in Lost (TV series)
Lost (TV series)

Lost is an American Serial television program. It follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial Oceanic Flight 815 flying between Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles, United States crashes somewhere in the Oceania....
, Dumbledore and Voldemort in Harry Potter
Harry Potter

Harry Potter is a Heptalogy fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the eponymous adolescent wizard Harry Potter , together with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his friends from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry....
, the doctor and Kino in The Pearl
The Pearl (novel)

File:JohnSteinbeck ThePearl title.jpgThe Pearl is a novella by American author John Steinbeck. Like his father, and grandfather before him, Kino is a poor pearl diver, gathering pearls from the Gulf of California beds that once brought great wealth to Spain and now provided Kino, Juana, and their infant son Coyotito, with meager subsis...
, and Théoden
Théoden

Th?oden is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings. He first appears in The Two Towers and remains an important character in The Return of the King....
 and Denethor
Denethor

This article is about the Steward of Gondor in the time of the War of the Ring. For the king of the Laiquendi, see Denethor . For the first Steward of Gondor of this name, see Denethor I....
 in The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is an Epic poetry high fantasy novel written by Philology J.R.R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work....
.
Antithesis is also a rhetorical figure of speech, often used
in both poetry and prose.
Not that I loved Cæsar less, but that I loved Rome more.


See also

  • Alternate hypothesis
    Alternate hypothesis

    The alternative hypothesis and the null hypothesis are the two rival hypotheses whose likelihood functions are compared by a statistical hypothesis testing....
  • Dialectical materialism
    Dialectical materialism

    Dialectical materialism is the philosophy of Karl Marx, which he formulated by taking the dialectic of Hegel and joining it to the Materialism of Feuerbach....
  • Hegelian dialectic
    Dialectic

    Dialectic is a method of argument, which has been central to both Eastern and Western philosophy since ancient times. The word "dialectic" originates in Ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato's Socratic dialogues....
  • Rhetorical device
    Rhetorical device

    In rhetoric, a rhetorical device or resource of language is a technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience ....