Dialectic

From Plato through Hegel and Marx, a form of progressive reasoning. In ancient Greek philosophy, methods of reasoning for discovering truth. Dialectic is an argumentative exchange in the form of questions and answers, in which an initial thesis coming into opposition to its antithesis results in a synthesis. According to Hegel, this logical structure forms the metaphysical basis of historical evolution; and, in Marx, dialectic is the inevitable development of politico-economic systems (so-called Dialectical Materialism).