To the ancients, 'it was nothing but the logic of illusion. Western dialectical forms Classical philosophy According to Kant, the ancient Greeks used the word 'dialectic' to signify the logic of false appearance or semblance. Hence, the history of the dialectical method is the history of philosophy. The concept of dialectic existed in the philosophy of Heraclitus of Ephesus, who proposed that everything is in constant change, as a result of inner strife and opposition. Change is helical (spiral), not circular (negation of the negation).Gradual changes lead to crises, turning points when one force overcomes its opponent force (quantitative change leads to qualitative change).Everything is composed of contradictions (opposing forces).Everything is transient and finite, existing in the medium of time.įichtean Dialectics (Hegelian Dialectics) is based upon four concepts: It is also possible that the rejection of the participants' presuppositions is resisted, which then might generate a second-order controversy. Another dialectical resolution of disagreement is by denying a presupposition of the contending thesis and antithesis thereby, proceeding to sublation (transcendence) to synthesis, a third thesis. One way to proceed-the Socratic method-is to show that a given hypothesis (with other admissions) leads to a contradiction thus, forcing the withdrawal of the hypothesis as a candidate for truth (see reductio ad absurdum). Principles The purpose of the dialectic method of reasoning is resolution of disagreement through rational discussion, and, ultimately, the search for truth. 3.1 Indian continental debate: an intra- and inter-Dharmic dialectic.These forms include the Socratic method, Hindu, Buddhist, Medieval, Hegelian dialectics, Marxist, Talmudic, and Neo-orthodoxy. Different forms of dialectical reasoning have emerged throughout history from the Indosphere (Greater India) and the West (Europe). Therefore, Socrates opposed the Sophists and their teaching of rhetoric as art and as emotional oratory requiring neither logic nor proof. To Socrates, truth, not aretē, was the greater good, and each person should, above all else, seek truth to guide one's life. Socrates valued rationality (appealing to logic, not emotion) as the proper means for persuasion, the discovery of truth, and the determinant for one's actions. Socrates favoured truth as the highest value, proposing that it could be discovered through reason and logic in discussion: ergo, dialectic. Oratory was taught as an art form, used to please and to influence other people via excellent speech nonetheless, the Sophists taught the pupil to seek aretē in all endeavours, not solely in oratory. The Sophists taught artistic quality in oratory (motivation via speech) as a manner of demonstrating one's aretē. The Sophists taught aretē (Greek: ἀρετή, quality, excellence) as the highest value, and the determinant of one's actions in life. Concepts, like ' logos' or rational appeal, ' pathos' or emotional appeal, and ' ethos' or ethical appeal, are intentionally used by rhetoricians to persuade an audience. The term dialectics is also not synonymous with the term rhetoric, a method or art of discourse that seeks to persuade, inform, or motivate an audience. Debates do not necessarily require promptly identifying a clear winner or loser however clear winners are frequently determined by either a judge, jury, or by group consensus. Debates are won through a combination of persuading the opponent proving one's argument correct or proving the opponent's argument incorrect. While in theory debaters are not necessarily emotionally invested in their point of view, in practice debaters frequently display an emotional commitment that may cloud rational judgement. The term dialectics is not synonymous with the term debate.

The dialectical method is discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject, who wish to establish the truth of the matter guided by reasoned arguments.

The word dialectic originated in ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues. For other uses, see Dialect (disambiguation).ĭialectic (also dialectics and the dialectical method), from Ancient Greek διαλεκτική, is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to European and Indian philosophy since antiquity.

Dialectic process definition