What is Dialectic? From Heraclitus to Marx
Throughout history, from the time of the Pre-Socratic era, dialectic (or dialectics) has sparked a multitude of ideas among philosophers. The concept itself has undergone different interpretations. It has been associated with sophistry, rhetoric, the Socratic method of questioning, Plato’s journey from the sensible to the spiritual, Aristotle’s examination of opinions, Kant’s exploration of transcendental illusions of understanding, Marx’s interpretation of socioeconomic stages from capitalism to socialism, and so on. In this article, we trace the philosophical evolution of the notion of dialectic, starting from its origins in ancient Greece and leading up to its development in modern Western philosophy.
