Dialectics
the old name for logic, or the art of reasoning and disputing justly. There were several systems of dialectics among the ancients. The dialectics of Plato are a kind of analyses to direct the human mind by dividing, defining, and bringing things to the first truth; which having reached, it applies itself to explain sensible things, but with a view to return to the first truth, where alone it can rest. The dialectics of Aristotle comprise the doc- trine of simple words, delivered in his doctrine of simple words, de delivered in his book of "Predicaments"; the doctrine of propositions, contained in his book "De Interpretatione"; and that of the several kinds of syllogism, in his books of "Analytics," "Topics," and "Elenchuses." In modern times various systems of dialectics have been propounded in different countries.