Dialectician
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A dialectician is a philosopher or similar thinker who views the world in terms of complementary opposites and the interactions thereof. The central feature of dialectic is the concept of 'thesis, antithesis, synthesis,' meaning that when an idea or phenomenon (thesis) arises, it carries within itself the seed of its opposite (antithesis), and the juxtaposition of these polarities leads to a synthesis which is somehow 'beyond' the scope of either polarity alone. Of course, when this happens, the synthesis is now itself a new thesis, and the entire process can begin again. Dialecticians sometimes refer to this as 'the negation of the negation,' meaning that as soon as the contradiction between thesis and antithesis is resolved by synthesis, the fact that a new thesis has emerged gives rise in turn to a new antithesis and therefore another contradiction. This process of successive negation is not seen as self-defeating, however, for it is progressive, and each new synthesis is seen as an improvement (or at least a refinement) of the premises from which it was derived.
Historically, dialecticians and dialectical thought have been primarily associated with Marxism, as the philosophical grounding of Marxism is based on a materialist interpretation of Hegelian dialectic. However, individuals widely recognized as dialecticians exist outside of Marxism. Chief amongst these is Nagarjuna, an early Buddhist scholar whose dialogues attempt to show the absurdity of adhering to any metaphysical position by using negative dialectics to undermine the arguments of his opponents.
List of dialecticians
- Heraclitus
- Kung-sun Lung (third or fourth centuries BC)
- Socrates
- Plato
- Hegel