Dialectic is the process of reasoned dialog and logical analysis. Argument is a form of dialect.
Synonyms: Debate, Rational Discourse, Legal Analysis, Scholarship as a Conversation
People engage in dialectics (spoken dialog or written dialog with others)
- when they debate one another in face-to-face situations
- when they use logical reasoning to debate interpretations of events and texts.
- when they engage in logical reasoning about opposing ideas, topics, theses/research questions, research methods–and so on.
- when they engage in Information Literacy practices, particularly Critical Literacy, summary, paraphrase, and citation.
Dialectics is sometimes referred to as the ceaseless debate–a recurring cycle of interpretation and reinterpretation.
Legal discourse is built on the foundation of dialectics–the notion that logos rather than pathos or ethos should be used to vet truth claims.