dialectic

[ dahy-uh-lek-tik ]
See synonyms for dialectic on Thesaurus.com
adjectiveAlso dialectical.
  1. of, relating to, or of the nature of logical argumentation.

noun
  1. the art or practice of logical discussion as employed in investigating the truth of a theory or opinion.

  2. logical argumentation.

  1. Often dialectics.

    • logic or any of its branches.

    • any formal system of reasoning or thought.

  2. dialectics, (often used with a singular verb) the arguments or bases of dialectical materialism, including the elevation of matter over mind and a constantly changing reality with a material basis.

  3. (in Kantian epistemology) a fallacious metaphysical system arising from the attribution of objective reality to the perceptions by the mind of external objects.: Compare transcendental dialectic.

  4. the juxtaposition or interaction of conflicting ideas, forces, etc.

Origin of dialectic

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (from Anglo-French ), from Latin dialectica, from Greek dialektikḗ (téchnē) “argumentative (art),” feminine of dialektikós; see dialect, -ic

Other words from dialectic

  • di·a·lec·ti·cal·ly, adverb
  • non·di·a·lec·tic, adjective, noun

Words Nearby dialectic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dialectic in a sentence

  • One other illustration of this keen childish dialectic when face to face with the accuser deserves to be touched on.

    Children's Ways | James Sully
  • As in the later days of Greece, rhetoric and dialectic are the most powerful of the arts.

    The New Society | Walther Rathenau
  • In the Anglican doctorPage 119 it employs the dialectic and metaphysics of Aristotle.

    Colleges in America | John Marshall Barker
  • The latter is a composition of the literary German with dialectic forms, and his rhythms are halting, his ideas one-sided.

  • He wrote extensively not only on medicine, but on philosophy, his writings taking throughout a more or less dialectic character.

British Dictionary definitions for dialectic

dialectic

/ (ˌdaɪəˈlɛktɪk) /


noun
  1. disputation or debate, esp intended to resolve differences between two views rather than to establish one of them as true

  2. philosophy

    • the conversational Socratic method of argument

    • (in Plato) the highest study, that of the Forms

  1. (in the writings of Kant) the exposure of the contradictions implicit in applying empirical concepts beyond the limits of experience

  2. philosophy the process of reconciliation of contradiction either of beliefs or in historical processes: See also Hegelian dialectic, dialectical materialism

adjective
  1. of or relating to logical disputation

Origin of dialectic

1
C17: from Latin dialectica, from Greek dialektikē (tekhnē) (the art) of argument; see dialect

Derived forms of dialectic

  • dialectician, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012