What's the difference between opposite and negative?
Opposition and negation: are they the same thing?
Or: is the opposite of orange the same thing as the negative of orange?
Or: is the opposite of orange the same thing as the negative of orange?
Comments (24)
But one is free, as usual, to use terms as one sees fit.
Nice question. To me they're different. To take your example, I would say that anything non-orange negates an orange to the extent that it's not an orange; empty space, for example, does that pretty well; Or, consider the universe removed of all oranges as the absolute negation of oranges. But in order to find the opposite of an orange you would have to identify particular characteristics and figure out their antitheses. That pulls you more towards essences. Say you decide that part of what characterizes oranges are that they are round, you're left with the problem of identifying the opposite of round, which sounds like it should be something rather than nothing i.e. a shape. But which one??
EDIT: (Sorry, I read that as "an orange" not "orange". I blame Wayfarer and scribbling while at work).
I'd agree pretty much. Negation speaks to opposites that are reflexive or easily reversible because they are of the same scale. So spin or charge are symmetries that can be broken in two directions. And just as easily unbroken by another reversal. Or equivalently, you can imagine creating a hole via a taking away, that can then function as the negation - as in the electron hole of Dirac's sea.
But then the other sense of opposite is an asymmetry - where the relationship is inverse, reciprocal, dichotomistic. A breaking of a symmetry across scale. So this is where you get the metaphysically general opposites, like discrete vs continuous or chance vs necessity, where the two poles are as unalike as it is possible to be. There is a thirdness involved - in that the two poles are mutually exclusive, but also jointly exhaustive. That is, together they negate all other possibility, so taking the negating to a whole other universal level.
So opposition suggests a dyadic relation. But simple or particular states of opposition are so easily reversed that the stable or substantial thing seems to be the third thing of the symmetry they break. And then metaphysical oppositions seem irreducible and undeniable because they also speak to the third thing of the symmetry they break, but now in terms of excluding it as an unstable ground of possibility.
'Opposite' can be used to mean either. But I think it is less precise than 'negative'. For instance, say we are seated in a circular stadium. You could be opposite me but be in the front row whereas I am in the back row. So your position is opposite mine, but it is not the negative (antipode) of mine. That would only be the case if you too were in the back row.
In the case of orange, the colour negative of a particular shade of orange would have precise values of Cyan, Yellow and Magenta. But we could then multiply those values by any non-unit positive scalar to give a colour that is still 'opposite' but darker or lighter than the exact negative. It would be an opposite but not a negative.
That nuance seems to apply only to the numeric meaning of negation. For the logical meaning I think opposite and negation mean the same thing.
A thing and its opposite are mutually exclusive but it needn't be that together they divide the world into exactly two parts. E.g. hot and cold but there's lukewarm. I think the philosophical term for opposite is contrary.
I tend not to use them interchangeably in contexts requiring technical precision.
I use opposite to indicate reversals or mirror-imaging
(e.g. "_/" "\_", "yin-yang").
I use negation to indicate subtraction, self-reflexive limit or erasure / zero-out (e.g. "~X", "minus Y", "Z plus ~Z").
1. What is the negation of opposite?
2. What is the opposite of negation?
If you ask me, the negation of opposite is same (à la synonym vs. antonym) and the opposite of negation is affirmation (à la yes vs. no). I'm not quite sure though. Help!
1. Identical.
2. Negation of negation.
I'll get back to you later. I'm :confused:
Do you suppose you could help me out here. I'm trying to bring some precision to these concepts and the only discipline I know that's known for that is math.
Take numbers. Say [math]\infty[/math] (infinite)
1. The negation of infinite is finite.
2. The opposite of infinite ([math]+ \infty[/math]) is [math]- \infty[/math].
How do I map this onto how the words "opposite" and "negation" are used in discourse, formal and informal, outside math that is?
Quoting 180 Proof
For me, outside of math, logic and philosophical arguments, both "oppose" & "negate" are used to exclude statements (or their referents).
negative only applies to one side, which is the opposite of positive, but conversely does not apply.
In other words, opposition does not imply negativity, while negative does.
An opposite number can be obtained by inverting it. You oppose the change, to let the situation stay the same. Multiplication by 2 can be opposed by multiplication by 1/2.
Negation on the other hand, means you don't want to change at all. When someone adds 7, you negate this by substracting 7.
So,
Opposition: multiplication by the inverse
Negation: adding the negative
The first opposes the change, after it has taken place, while the latter negates the change before it has even started, making it impossible to oppose at all. Tyrans are negators in the first place, while opposers in the second. The oppressed though hold opposition up higher then negation. They regard opposition as the most important, while negating the tyran.
Negation is open i.e. it doesn't stipulate another thing e.g. the negation of hot is not hot. Negation is not knowledge-apt e.g. x isn't hot, it isn't an apple, it isn't green, it isn't... doesn't seem to imply that we know anything (vide apophasis).
Nice observation. Negating heat is denying it, not relating it to cold. Opposing heat needs cold. To oppose the coldness (make it smaller) heat has to be introduced. To negate cold is to deny the feeling.
Is opposing active and negating passive? Does negating let the negated persist, while opposing tries to eliminate what's opposed?
The negation of +2 is x > +2 OR x < + 2
Salient points.
1. There's only one opposite or opposites come in pairs. A negation of something, however, may be a multiplicity.
2. Opposites, MAD (mutually assured destruction). Negations, not necessarily that MAD.
3. Opposites, mutually exclusive only. Negations mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive.
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