Dialectic
Dialectic is a manner and form of rational communication between two or more points of view inside of a discussion. It is contrasted against grammar and rhetoric, one of the three liberal arts or trivium in Western Culture.
See the wikipedia entry on dialectic
Description
Dialectic originates back to ancient Greece, most notably the Socratic Method, which is still used in legal debate to this very day. Hegel updated the understanding of dialectic and spoke of what he called 'The Historical Dialectic", or the exchange of thesis, anti-thesis resolving into synthesis that shapes historical movements. Hegel believed that the historical dialectic would eventually lead humanity to a place of ultimate liberation.
"Dialectical reason," and the "dialectical movement" of thought and ideas flourished during the 20th century, as many European philosophers took up Hegel's accomplishments. The concept found its way into a great number of disciplines, and played a prominent role in Marxism, Socialism, Critical Theory, and many ideas of the Left. Dialectical thinking justified critique and opposition in thought, resistance and challenge in politics.
Postmodern thinkers later abandoned the concept by and large, and the idea of a "meta-narrative" along with it. After the social movements of the late 60's, concepts of society, politics, literature, and art took a "linguistic turn," veering away from an over arching theme and globalizing vision to a more fragmented and fractured one instead. Society was now seen as messy, complex, and interconnected, but not towards a unified goal and purpose. Thinkers attended more to processes of society, leaving the grand philosophical themes behind to focus on daily, and local practices.
FishBubble: "In relationship to P2P, dialectic can be appreciated in it's exalted form through online written discussion, allowing large groups to form synthesis and may stimulate Co-intelligence. Internet discussion allows the natural Tit for Tat strategy of dialogue to exalt into a win win in the conflict of ideas, allowing many global points of view to transform and align in profound ways. Indeed, the impact of direct peer to peer communications on the historical dialectic may be too overwhelming to currently model, as internet communication has increased this process exponentially in ways that were unfathomable in Hegel's day."