Ineffability

For the notion from set theory, seeIneffable cardinal.

Not to be confused withInfallibility.

Ineffabilityis the quality of something that surpasses the capacity of language to express it, often being in the form of atabooor incomprehensible term.This property is commonly associated withphilosophy,aspects of existence,and similar concepts that are inherently "too great", complex orabstractto be communicated adequately.Illogicalstatements, principles, reasons and arguments may be considered intrinsically ineffable along withimpossibilities,contradictionsandparadoxes.

Terminology describing the nature ofexperiencecannot be conveyed properly in dualisticsymboliclanguage; it is believed that this knowledge is only held by the individual from which it originates.Profanityandvulgarismscan easily and clearly be stated, but by those who believe they should not be said, they are considered ineffable. Thus, one method of describing something that is ineffable is by usingapophasis,i.e. describing what it isnot,rather than what itis.An example is the name ofGod in Judaism,written asYHWHbut substituted withAdonai( "the Lord" ) orHaShem( "the name" ) when reading.

See also

• Atopy (philosophy)
• Apophatic (or "negative" ) theology
• Creator ineffabilis(Christian prayer)
• Ideasthesia
• Implicit knowledge
• Meaning (linguistics)
• True name
• Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent