Socrates was the first to place emphasis on dialectic, that is the art of logical argument. In essence 1. ... process takes the form of a statement countered by an opposing 2. ..... with an ensuing debate between the two points of 3. ... . A more precise meaning was given to the term by Hegel, the German philosopher 4. .... the nineteenth century, and by Marx with his concept 5. .... dialectical materialism. The
notion is that there is a thesis which is opposed 6. ... an antithesis and finally the two resolve into a synthesis. Then 7. .... whole process starts again. This process is supposed to underlie the evolution 8. .... history and the social condition of man. Progress is seen as arising 9. ..... the necessary clash between the thesis and antithesis. It is for 10. .... reason that Marx and Lenin put such great emphasis on the transition stage 11. .... capitalism to Communism. This transition stage was the state of struggle. By concentrating 12. .... this conflict rather than the Utopia that was to result at the 13. .... , the founders of Commumsm gave a sense of mission and purpose to 14. .... followers: opposition and struggle are easier and more tangible 15. .... constructive evolution.
In society as a whole we pay a great deal of 16. .... to the dialectic model. We run many of our systems on 17. .... adversary basis. The legal system is run on the basis that one side 18. .... one point of view and the other side attacks this. The political 19. .... is run on the basis that the government has a policy and that 20. .... is necessarily opposed by the opposition. Schools put a lot of emphasis 21. .... debating skills. Negotiations in business and between employees and employers 22..... also conducted on an adversary or dialectical basis. We rarely challenge the 23. .... and yet from the point of view of increasing understanding it has 24. .... outstanding deficiencies.
In the dialectic process more time is spent trying to 24. ... the opposite case than exploring the matter itself. Proving the other 25. .... wrong is taken as evidence for the rightness of your case, and yet both 26. ... be right or wrong. Polarisation is encouraged to the extent that political 27. ... must try to disagree even on matters where there is obvious agreement. 28. ... short the force of thinking is directed towards debating skills rather than problem 29. .... skills.
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