Editing Dialectic (section)

=== Aristotle ===
[[Aristotle]] has been traditionally understood as viewing dialectic as a lesser method of reasoning than ''demonstration'', which derives a necessarily true conclusion from premises assumed to be true via [[syllogism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hamlyn |first=D. W. |title=Aristotle on Dialectic |journal=Philosophy |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=65 |issue=254 |year=1990 |issn=0031-8191 |jstor=3751284 |pages=465–466|doi=10.1017/S003181910006469X }}</ref> Within the ''[[Organon]]'', the series comprising Aristotle's works about logic,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Robin |title=Aristotle's Logic |encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |year=2022 |orig-date=2000 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic/#AriLogWorOrg |at=§ Aristotle’s Logical Works: The Organon |ref={{sfnref|Smith|2000}}}}</ref> the ''[[Topics (Aristotle)|Topics]]'' is dedicated to dialectic—which he characterizes as argument from ''[[endoxa]]'' ("generally accredited opinions") where positions are subject to lines of questioning, to which concessions may be made in response. While Aristotle asserts "dialectic does not prove anything", he considers it to be a useful art closely related to [[rhetoric]].{{sfn|Smith|2000|loc=§ Dialectical Argument and the Art of Dialectic}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Bolton |title=The Blackwell guide to ancient philosophy |publisher=Blackwell |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-631-22215-6 |chapter=Aristotle: Epistemology and Methodology |editor-first=Christopher |editor-last=Shields |pages=156–158}}</ref>