1. The art or practice of arriving at the truth by the exchange of logical arguments. 2a. The process especially associated with Hegel of arriving at the truth by stating a thesis, developing a contradictory antithesis, and combining and resolving them into a coherent synthesis. b. Hegel's critical method for the investigation of this process. 3a. The Marxian process of change through the conflict of opposing forces, whereby a given contradiction is characterized by a primary and a secondary aspect, the secondary succumbing to the primary, which is then transformed into an aspect of a new contradiction. Often used in the plural with a singular or plural verb. b. The Marxian critique of this process. 4.dialectics(used with a sing. verb) A method of argument or exposition that systematically weighs contradictory facts or ideas with a view to the resolution of their real or apparent contradictions. 5. The contradiction between two conflicting forces viewed as the determining factor in their continuing interaction.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English dialetik, from Old French dialetique, from Latin dialectica, logic, from Greek dialektik (tekhn), (art) of debate, feminine of dialektikos, from dialektos, speech, conversation. See dialect.
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