Doublethink

Doublethink in George Orwell's anti-utopian novel 1984 is the practice of keeping two contradictory thoughts in one's own mind.

In formal logic, it is considered disproof of a premise, if it implies two contradictory statements. So in Orwell's nightmare political vision, citizens participate actively in their own indoctrination, willingly accepting false government propaganda. Indeed, the main character of 1984 is a man whose job is to falsify historical documents in the government archives.

Douglas Kellner writes:

In 1984, "Newspeak" is the new totalitarian language which replaces "Old English." The aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought so that an individual could not even think critical or subversive thoughts. Potentially critical terms like "freedom" are formally defined into their conceptual opposites ("freedom is slavery"), or are simply eliminated from the dictionary and everyday language. In this manner, critical language would wither away as the number of words which allow differentiation and critique was increasingly reduced.

Communists and other leftists use language in a way which verges on doublethink.

See:

• double standard
• hypocrisy
• intellectual dishonesty