EDUCATION (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Socrates and Plato first introduced the method of dialect. In his dialectic method, also known as elenchus, Socrates used a series of questions to reach a particular truth and decipher the meaning of any discussion and reasoning.

Detailed explanation-2: -“Hegel’s dialectics” refers to the particular dialectical method of argument employed by the 19th Century German philosopher, G.W.F. Hegel (see entry on Hegel), which, like other “dialectical” methods, relies on a contradictory process between opposing sides.

Detailed explanation-3: -Dialectic enquiry involves a decision-making process that utilises a confrontational thesis (plan) and antithesis (counter-plan) in a structured debate, and a synthesis (integrated plan) of the opposing views (Schwenk, 1990).

Detailed explanation-4: -Dialectic is the name Plato gives to his method, to the highest form of thought. In dialectic one examines one’s assumptions, one’s basic concepts, and one arrives at better assumptions and concepts. It is perfectly possible, for Plato, that one would not, for the moment, examine one’s concepts.