Pronunciation: kän-trə-ˈrī-ə-tē
plural con·tra·ri·eties
Etymology:
Middle English contrariete, from Anglo-French contrarieté, from Late Latin contrarietat-, contrarietas, from Latin contrarius contrary
Date: 14th century

The quality or condition of being contrary, anything that is contrary; inconsistency or in discrepancy


“The Ontological Foundations of Contrariety

Aristotle makes a distinction between things which exist by 'nature' and things which are the result of other causes, ie art (τέχνη ), chance (τύχη ), and choice (προαίρεσισ ). The kind of being which is ultimately identical with process and nature is that to which he refers in the “metaphysics” as constituting the subject matter of the science of physics. There he tells us that theoretical or speculative science is divided into three types of Enquiry: physics, mathematics, and Theology.” From “Aristotle's Theory of Contrariety” by J. P. Anton.