Abstract

The central question dealt with in this article is some of the traditional understandings of, And uses of, The idea of dialectic. It is argued that dialectical thinking is not itself 'contradictory', But is a distinctive mode of thinking which is neither strictly deductive nor inductive reasoning. As illustrated in the use of the term in kierkegaard, Hegel, And sartre, Dialectical thinking appears to be a kind of psychologistic, Impressionistic mode of thought which seems ideally suited to describing social phenomena. While passing reference is made to marx's use of the term, It is suggested that the notion of dialectics is useful in other, Non-Marxian, Forms of philosophical inquiry