From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdialecticdi‧a‧lec‧tic /ˌdaɪəˈlektɪk/ (also dialectics) noun [uncountable] formal RPa method of examining and discussing ideas in order to find the truth, in which two opposing ideas are compared in order to find a solution that includes them both —dialectical adjective
Examples from the Corpus
dialectic• In the Consultation the emerging model of organic union is a dialectic between unity and pluralism, between structures and life.• It is prized in cultures which use second-order systems of logic and dialectic to reason about the world.• In this sense, the ideology allows for the possibility of an implicit, internalized dialectic.• In general, what the theory of dialectic materialism states is that every society is structured around its material basis of production.• But the Master-Slave dialectic seems to capture the relation between people in pornographic eroticism.• Trotsky, claimed James, had misunderstood the dialectic and therefore there was a fundamental flaw in his interpretation of history.• And there was the little hut ... He didn't know himself what he meant by that ... Wycliffian dialectic.Origin dialectic (1500-1600) Latin dialectica, from Greek dialektos; → DIALECT 