Sine qua non

I think it is OK. "Sine qua non" is a Latin phrase to mean "indispensable", but it can be a noun.

paco

Thanks, Paco. Yes, I know, it's the same as in Spanish. But I wasn't entirely sure that it sounded ok with "denying".

Sextus

Hurm… I don't know whether "sine qua non" can go with "denying". In [url=http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:BIkd8X2aNk8J:www.jurisearch.com/newroot/caselink.asp%3Fseries%3DF.2d%26citationno%3D468%2BF.2d%2B769+%22sine+qua+non+for+denying%22&hl=ja] the google[/url] I found an

Hi guys,

Indeed, the problem seems to be that sine qua non does not fit comfortably with deny. The phrase literally means 'without which not' and deny involves a negative, so essentially it's a problem of understanding a sentence with two negatives.

I can easily understand the example if we say 'approving a motion' instead of 'denying a motion', but I find I have

Hi Clive,

What about these cases:

"A has maintained that being non-skeptical about some view of the world is not a sine qua non for rejecting moral realism."

"As already indicated, A opposes the view that ethical skepticism’s being local is a sine qua non for holding that there are no objective moral values." ?

Sextus

Hi Sextus,

Well, they both make my head hurt a bit, but the second version makes my head hurt a little less!

However, not to be facetious, I think that with this type of subject, the author can reasonably expect his reader to make an active effort to weigh the words and find the meaning.

You could always say, instead, something like an indispensable condition, but

So, I think I will change the first one, using "indispensable condition":

"A, on the contrary, has maintained that being non-skeptical about some view of the world is not an indispensable condition for rejecting moral realism."

Anyway, there's still "indispensable", and hence several negative expressions.

And I'll keep the second one:

"As already indicate

X is not a sine qua non for denying Y

It's grammatically correct, but awkward because of the implied double negative.
sine qua non is usually most comfortable in a purely affirmative context.

CJ

[elow did u know b the meaning of sine qua non?im shyr!

Hi,

elow did u know b the meaning of sine qua non?im shyr!

Sorry, I don't understand you. Please write it again, in another way.

Cliv