What is a word (adjective) for co-occurring but polar opposite views or feelings? [duplicate]

Question

I’m at a loss for words but I am looking for a word, an adjective, to describe someone with co-occurring yet conflicting ideas. For example: a narrow minded liberal…😬

Answer 1

I would stick with a meaning of conflicting, using the adjective

conflicted

Experiencing or marked by ambivalence or a conflict especially of emotions m-w

Having or showing confused and mutually inconsistent feelings.

She plays an empathetic character who is fundamentally conflicted about her relationship with Amy. Lexico

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The category Ellis and Stimson and others have tended to focus on is in the bottom right hand corner where an individual is operationally liberal, but labels themselves as symbolically conservative. They have called these conflicted conservatives, but I refer to them as confused liberals. Aaron Dusso; Personality and the Challenges of Democratic Governance (2017)

These are people who self-identify as one type of political identity (conservatives or liberals) but generally support policy options counter to that partisan philosophy. Empirical studies find significant numbers of conflicted partisans, especially among the ranks of those who self-identify as conservatives. Claassen, Tucker, and Smith (2015) have found about 30% of self-identifying conservatives fall into this conflicted category–embracing the conservative label but preferring liberal policies. M. Boler and E. Davis; Affective Politics of Digital Media (2020)

In one condition, candidate A was a charismatic conservative and candidate B was a conflicted liberal. In the other condition, candidate A was a charismatic liberal and candidate B was a conflicted conservative. J. Ciulla et al.; Leadership at the Crossroads (2008)

Answer 2

a narrow minded liberal

This is an example of a figure of speech called an oxymoron:

OED

1. Rhetoric. A figure of speech in which a pair of opposed or markedly contradictory terms are placed in conjunction for emphasis.

1890 Q. Rev. 160 289 Voltaire..we might call, by an oxymoron which has plenty of truth in it, an ‘Epicurean pessimist’.

to describe someone with co-occurring yet conflicting ideas.

As for your requested description:

Adjective - conflicted.

Esp. of emotions or feelings: incompatible or at odds; confused, contradictory. Also (in later use) of a person: having, displaying, or characterized by such emotions or feelings.

2011 Independent 22 Mar. (Viewspaper section) 24/1 On the issue of tickets I find myself conflicted once again. The first major gripe is the high price of seats... Then again.., when the time comes, I'll kick myself if I didn't buy them when I could.

Answer 3

I think your example is a poor one as liberals are typically extremely narrow minded, demanding that anyone who disagrees with them be censored and silenced, but whatever, not the real point.

A noun for the concept is "cognitive dissonance". This means believing two contradictory things at the same time. You might use the adjective "dissonant", as in, "... but she also holds the dissonant idea that ..."

An adjective might be "paradoxical". Like one might say, "John has a lot of self-confidence, but paradoxically he can be very reluctant to share an opinion for fear of looking foolish."

But I think in general, most English speakers would just say "these are contradictory ideas".