Subject: Re: [HM] "exception that PROVES the rule"
From: Kim Plofker (Kim_Plofker@Brown.edu)
Date: Wed Mar 01 2000 - 17:31:51 EST
The interpretation "the exception tests the rule", although it does
seem to go back at least to the nineteenth century, is probably not
the original meaning of the expression "the exception proves the rule."
It's a concept in civil law extending back probably to Roman jurisprudence.
Here's a (borrowed) quote from Alan Bliss, _A Dictionary of Words and
Phrases in Current English_:
"Exceptio probat regulam [Lat.], the exception proves the rule.
A legal maxim of which the complete text is: exceptio probat [or
(con)firmat] regulam in casibus non exceptis--`the fact that certain
exceptions are made (in a legal document) confirms that the rule is
valid in all other cases.'"
E.g., a street sign saying "No Parking, 9 AM--6PM Weekdays" is read
as an exception to an implied rule that parking is permitted. That is,
the [explicit statement of the] exception proves the [existence of an
implicit] rule. The exception does not invalidate or test the truth
of a rule which it contradicts; rather, the existence of the exception
is what confirms the existence of the rule.
An amusing and quite thorough discussion of this subject as it appeared
in the Chicago Reader's _Straight Dope_ column is available at
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_201.html .
With best wishes,
Kim Plofker
Department of History of Mathematics
Brown University
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Wed Mar 01 2000 - 14:57:16 EST