Dialectic: The Hegelian Method

August 24, 2021September 4, 2021MyInfo Basket.com 4 CommentsDialectic, Dialectic examples, Dialectical Method, dialectics, Hegel Dialectic, Hegel dialectic example, hegel dialectic thesis antithesis synthesis, Hegelian dialectic definition, Hegelian Dialectics, the hegel legend of thesis-antithesis-synthesis, What are the 3 basic laws of dialectics?, What are the 3 parts of Hegel's dialectic?, What is meant by Hegelian dialectic?, What is the Hegelian approach?

What is dialectics? Can we give a clear “Hegel dialectic example”? Basically, the term “dialectics” means a method of philosophical argument that involves a form of contradictory process between opposing sides.

Dialectic is distinct from the didactic method, in which one side of the conversation teaches the other.

Dialectical Method is also called Hegelian Dialectics as this was proposed by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), a German philosopher and a significant figure of German idealism.

Dialectical method is fundamentally a dialogue between two or more individuals holding different views about a subject but intending to found the truth by reasoned arguments. It is like a debate, though without subjective elements (such as emotional appeal) and uncomplimentary rhetoric.

Dialectic as leading to truth

In his lecture (the basis of this article), Filipino Philosophy professor and textbook author Jensen DG. Mañebog explains how that Hegelian dialectic leads to truth (and wisdom). He clarifies that in this interpretive method in philosophy, the contradiction between a proposition (thesis) and its antithesis is resolved at a higher level of truth (synthesis).

This can be clearly understood in the three stages of development or “the triad” comprising the Hegelian dialectic:

First stage: a thesis

This refers to a beginning proposition or statement of an idea.

Second stage: the antithesis

This is a reaction that contradicts or negates the thesis.

Third stage: the synthesis

It is a proposition through which the differences between the two points are resolved. Here, the thesis and antithesis are reconciled to form a new statement.

Prof. Jensen DG. Mañebog exemplifies this method by using a usual child’s personal development in relation to his relationship with his parents:

Characteristically, we, as a young child, consider our parents to be an ultimate authority.

But as we become older, we start to form our adult personalities, and the various changes we undergo during puberty usually make us a problematic teenager whose parents stop being authoritative (and, for some, even become a sort of an embarrassment).

Now, when our character as teenager develops into a young adult, our negative attitude to our parents tones down, and our relationship with them even becomes better once we attain full independence.

Prof. Mañebog further explains that in this example, the thesis is childish obedience, the antithesis is a form of adolescent rebellion, and finally the synthesis is independent adulthood with a good relationship with parents.

The dialectical materialism, the set of theories pioneered by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, adapted this Hegelian dialectic into arguments about traditional materialism, resulting in their advocacy of socialism and communism.

Hegel dialectic example

Prof. Mañebog also teaches some practical applications of this Hegelian dialectic.

For one thing, dialectics may help to develop one’s ingenuity. For instance, a man wants to sleep in the open (thesis), but mosquitoes make his plan awful (antithesis), and so he invents the mosquito net(synthesis).

Take note that the Hegelian method of dialectical unification ideally continues in various grades as the synthesis itself becomes a thesis to which there is an antithesis. Then, the two again become unified and transcended in a still higher synthesis and the process works progressively.

Thus, the dialectical method leads to a linear development from less sophisticated views to more refined ones later.

While Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel recognized that his method was akin to Socratic Method: The Elenchus, he criticized the old kind of dialectics for merely dealing with limited philosophical claims and for being incapable to get beyond arbitrariness, skepticism or nothingness.

Nevertheless, some scholars assert that the thesis-antithesis-synthesis triad does not accurately depict Hegel’s true method. They instead suggest these elements:

(a) the Abstract side, or that of understanding;

(b) the Dialectical, or that of negative reason; and

To better understand this method of philosophy, compare it to Socratic Method: The Elenchus, Methodic Doubt: The Cartesian Method of Philosophy, and Phenomenology Study: The Phenomenological Inquiry and the ‘Lived Experience’

– If you want to look for other topics in Intro to Philo of Man (e.g. transcendence, etc) and other subjects, search here:

Note: Teachers may share this as a reading assignment of their students. For other free lectures like this (especially for students), visit Homepage: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person

*Also available: Free lectures on the subject Pambungad sa Pilosopiya ng Tao

Philosophy of Man Articles:

Distinguish Opinion from Truth

Do a philosophical reflection on a concrete situation from a holistic perspective

Realize the Value of Doing Philosophy in Obtaining a Broad Perspective on Life

Distinguish a Holistic Perspective from a Partial Point of View (Holism vs Partial Perspective)

The Blind Men and the Elephant: Attaining a Holistic Perspective

Socratic Method: The Elenchus

Methodic Doubt: The Cartesian Method of Philosophy

Phenomenology Study: The Phenomenological Inquiry and the ‘Lived Experience’

Mga Libreng Lektura para sa Pambungad sa Pilosopiya ng Tao:

Nakikilala ang pagkakaiba ng katotohanan sa opinyon