![]() ![]() The passage clearly extols the virtues of dialectic as the most respectful scientific method. Quite dissimilarly, the following passage conveys a positive connotation, but that of dialectic, not didactic: “Dialectic, and only dialectic … can establish the truth only it can justify any claim that may be made” ( King, 1988). ![]() In “The Assault on Reason,” lingers over those well-worn topics and others, employing the same didactic method that used to provoke irritation or even ridicule during his hotly contested presidential campaign (Conason, 2007). The contemporary association of “didactic” with “pedagogically pedantic” is exemplified in the following quote from a reviewer of “The Assault on Reason” documentary: (e.g., Brandom, 1994 Ferrarin, 2001 Horkheimer & Adorno, 1972 Owen, 1985 Popper, 1966 etc.) Moreover, we often hear arguments that aspire to the use of dialectic and despise didactic approach. There is also an enormous body of literature on the history of dialectic, while not nearly as much has been written on didactic. ![]() It is not an exaggeration to say that the term “didactic” is used much less frequently than the term “dialectic”. But let me start first with their particular practice in contemporary society. This paper examines the meaning of two concepts – dialectic and didactic – through the lens of the dominant discourses in history. Studies in Literature and Language, 5(1), 16 - 26. Dialectic and Didactic: Divergent Paths to Contemporary Discourse. Key words: Dialectic Didactic Discourse Plato Aristotle Ramus Commenius Descartes Hegel While the contemporary use of didactic, whose intellectual value has significantly diminished since Commenius, is largely confined to the realm of instruction, dialectic became associated with the ideas of Hegel and Marx. Almost forgotten during the late Antiquity and early Middle Ages, didactic enjoyed wide acceptance by Ramists, especially Commenius, who saw in it a revolutionary methodological approach to education differing from the Scholastic trivium. The history of didactic began with Aristotle who introduced it in Sophistical Refutations to indicate a type of argument, synonymous to demonstration, but not antonymous to dialectic. Dialectic became associated with formal logic in Scholasticism, and, as such, came under attack by secular and religious humanists in late Medieval Europe. I compare and contrast Socrates/Plato’s and Aristotle’s approaches to dialectic. This paper attempts to uncover the semantic history of t he concepts of “dialectic” and “didactic” which goes back to the Ancient Greece. Received 9 June 2012 accepted 15 August 2012. Assistant Professor, Sociology Department, College of Social and Behavioral Science, The University of Texas-Pan American, USA. ![]()
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