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▪ I. dialectic, n.1|daɪəˈlɛktɪk| Forms: 4 dialatik, 5–(dialiticus), dialetike, -yk, dyaletyque, 6 dialectik(e, 6–7 -ique, 7–9 -ick, 7– -ic. [a. OF. dialectique, -etique (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. dialectica fem. sing., ad. Gr. ἡ διαλεκτική (sc. τέχνη) the dialectic art, the art of discussion or debate, fem. sing. of διαλεκτικός adj.: see next. The L. dialectica was also treated as a neuter pl., whence the later Eng. dialectics.] 1. a. The art of critical examination into the truth of an opinion; the investigation of truth by discussion: in earlier English use, a synonym of logic as applied to formal rhetorical reasoning; logical argumentation or disputation. Originally, the art of reasoning or disputation by question and answer, ‘invented’, according to Aristotle, by Zeno of Elea, and scientifically developed by Plato, by whom the term διαλεκτική was used in two senses, (a) the art of definition or discrimination of ‘ideas’, (b) the science which views the inter-relation of the ideas in the light of a single principle ‘the good’; corresponding broadly to logic and metaphysic. By Aristotle the term was confined to the method of probable reasoning, as opposed to the demonstrative method of science. With the Stoics, rhetoric and dialectic formed the two branches of λογική, logic, in their application of the term; and down through the Middle Ages dialectica was the regular name of what is now called ‘logic’, in which sense accordingly dialectic and dialectics were first used in English.
1382Wyclif Bible Pref. Ep. Jerome 68 Job..determyneth alle the lawes of dialatik, in proposicoun, assumpcoun, etc. [a1400–50Alexander 1583 (Ashm. MS.) Prestis of þe lawe, Of dialiticus [v.r. dialeticus], and decre, doctours of aythir. ]c1440J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. i. 372 Sche lerned þan þe liberall artes seuen..The thyrde sciens call þei dialetyk..Þe trewth fro þe falsned þat techeth for to know. 1481Caxton Myrr. i. viii. 34 The seconde science is logyke whiche is called dyaletyque. 1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 72 Dialectike or Logike, which is to learn the truth of al things by disputation. 1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 174/2 Dialectick is the Art of Discourse, whereby we confirm or confute any thing by Questions and Answers of the Disputants. 1865Grote Plato I. ii. 96 Zeno stands announced as the inventor of dialectic..the art of cross-examination and refutation. 1874W. Wallace Logic of Hegel vi. 127 The Platonic philosophy first gave the free scientific, and thus at the same time the objective, form to Dialectic. 1882Farrar Early Chr. II. 22 He has nothing of the Pauline method of dialectic. 1889Courtney Mill 27 The Platonic ideal of Dialectic..the giving and receiving of reasons. b. Also in pl. form dialectics (cf. mathematics).
1641Milton Animadv. i. (1851) 192 Bishop Downam in his Dialecticks will tell you [etc.]. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. III. lii. 263 The human faculties are fortified by the art and practice of dialectics. 1796Bp. Watson Apol. Bible 224 You will pardon my unskilfulness in dialectics. 1853Marsden Early Purit. 336 The dialectics of those times afford no specimens of reasoning more acute than the examinations of the martyrs. 1873Dixon Two Queens III. xiv. viii. 112 If Henry wearied of dialectics. 2. In modern Philosophy: Specifically applied by Kant to the criticism which shows the mutually contradictory character of the principles of science, when they are employed to determine objects beyond the limits of experience (i.e. the soul, the world, God); by Hegel (who denies that such contradictions are ultimately irreconcilable) the term is applied (a) to the process of thought by which such contradictions are seen to merge themselves in a higher truth that comprehends them; and (b) to the world-process, which, being in his view but the thought-process on its objective side, develops similarly by a continuous unification of opposites.
1798Willich Elem. Critical Philos. 65, 3. Of the division of general Logic, into Analysis and Dialectic. 4. Of the division of transcendental Logic, into transcendental Analysis and Dialectic. 1819J. Richardson tr. Kant's Logic 17 It would become a dialectic, a logic of appearance..which arises from a mere abuse of the analytic. 1838[F. Haywood] tr. Kant's Crit. Pure Reason 267 There is therefore a natural and unavoidable dialectick of pure reason..which irresistibly adheres to human reason, and even when we have discovered its delusion, still will not cease to play tricks upon reason, and to push it continually into momentary errors. 1856Ferrier Inst. Metaph. iv. xvi. 134 This reduction..could not have been effected upon any principle of psychological strategy. It is a manœuvre competent only to the dialectic of necessary truth. 1874W. Wallace Logic of Hegel i. 14 That dialectic is the very nature of thought..forms one of the main lessons of logic. Ibid. vi. 126 By Dialectic is meant an indwelling tendency outwards and beyond..Dialectic is..the life and soul of scientific progress, the dynamic which alone gives an immanent connexion and necessity to the subject-matter of Science. 1880J. Caird Philos. Relig. viii. 229 An idea which expresses the inner dialectic, the movement or process towards unity, which exists in and constitutes the being of the objects themselves. 1888Watson Philos. Kant 137 Transcendental Dialectic must..be satisfied with bringing to light the illusion in transcendent judgments, and guarding us against its deceptive influence. b. In more general use, the existence or working of opposing forces, tendencies, etc. Also in pl. form (const. sing. vb.).
1925tr. Bukharin's Historical Materialism iii. 75 For Marx, dialectics means evolution by means of contradictions. 1939Nature 21 Jan. 97/1 He [sc. J. B. S. Haldane] does not succeed in dispelling the fog that surrounds the uses of the term ‘dialectic’. The mildest use seems only to imply that in any complex system of things, people, or thoughts, opposing forces or tendencies are at work, so that processes are likely to oscillate first one way then another between extremes. 1953Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Dec., ‘Dialectics’, that magic word which nowadays too often gives an aura of perfection to the most outrageous obscurities and rhapsodizings..and not only among Marxists. 1965Listener 25 Nov. 837/2 Schofield presents only one half of the dialectic and virtually ignores the other half, namely the counter-pressures which parents, and adult society in general, must bring to bear on rebellious youth. 1967Ibid. 3 Aug. 140/3 Attempts to formulate the rules of dialectics usually result in arid scholasticism. Dialectics is indeed the grammar of Marxist thinking. Ibid. 14 Sept. 321 He [sc. J. K. Galbraith] suggested that for every apparently dominant force in modern capitalism, an equal and opposite force existed or could be conjured up: big trade unions to oppose monopolies, the state to oppose both, and so on, in an endless dialectic. ▪ II. dialectic, a. and n.2|daɪəˈlɛktɪk| [ad. L. dialectic-us, a. Gr. διαλεκτικός of or pertaining to discourse or discussion, f. διάλεκτος: see dialect. Cf. mod.F. dialectique.] A. adj. 1. a. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of logical disputation; argumentative, logical.
1650B. Discolliminium 35 If I should read this Dialectique straine to my Mare. 1669Gale Crt. Gentiles i. i. ii. 14 Their several Modes of Philosophizing, both Symbolic, and Dialectic. 1843Gladstone Glean. V. lxxix. 68 A more artful and constant resort to dialectic subtleties. 1846tr. F. Von Schlegel's Philos. Hist. 89 This question cannot be settled..by mere dialectic strife. b. In Marxist theory used specifically in relation to materialism. Cf. next.
1892E. Aveling tr. Engels's Socialism Utopian & Scientific 39 Modern materialism is essentially dialectic. 1926M. Eastman Marx, Lenin & Sci. of Revolution i. ii. 24 That is the philosophy of ‘dialectic materialism’, the intellectual background of scientific socialism, and..the official state philosophy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 1952W. J. H. Sprott Social Psychol. x. 208 Marxists..have always accepted the reaction of ideas on..economic processes. This is, indeed, a field of ‘dialectic’ operation. 1961P. Ustinov Loser viii. 138 Those impregnated with the spirit of dialectic materialism. 2. Addicted to or practising logical disputation.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. v. (1858) 87 Of which dialectic marauder..the discomfiture was visibly felt as a benefit. 1838Thirlwall Greece II. xii. 138 A metrical vehicle did not so well suit Zeno's dialectic genius. 1844Ibid. VIII. 95 Engaged in a learned conversation with the dialectic philosopher Aristoteles. 3. [f. dialect + -ic.] Belonging to or of the nature of a dialect; = dialectal.
1813W. Taylor Eng. Synonyms (1856) 51 Is it [prodezza] a mere dialectic variation of prudenza? 1828Whately Rhet. in Encycl. Metrop. 303/1 An indistinct, hesitating, dialectic, or otherwise faulty, delivery. 1850H. Torrens in Jrnl. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 13 Another alphabet, dialectic of the Hebrew. 1851D. Wilson Preh. Ann. II. iv. i. 185 The close dialectic affinities between Celtic Scotland and Ireland. B. n.2 [The adj. used absolutely.] A dialectic philosopher, one who pursues the dialectic method; a critical inquirer after truth; a logical disputant.
1640G. Watts tr. Bacon's Adv. Learn. Pref. 25 As for Induction, the Dialectiques seem scarce ever to have taken it into any serious consideration. 1677Gale Crt. Gentiles iii. 91 Thou callest a Dialectic one who considers the reason of every Being: for he that accurately discerneth things is a Dialectic. 1801Moore Nature's Labels 20 As learned dialectics say, The argument most apt and ample For common use, is the example. |