Hossein Jorjani
First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19
Formal logic and dialectical reasoning are often presented as mutually exclusive approaches. This opposition, however, concerns not the validity of logical inference but the domain to which different forms of reasoning are applied.
Formal logic, in the classical tradition, operates upon abstract concepts according to principles such as identity, non-contradiction, and excluded middle. Within this domain, its deductive validity is not in question. The philosophical issue arises when abstractions are treated as if they fully capture realities that are historically changing, internally differentiated, or continuously transformed through their relations with other phenomena.
From this perspective, the criticism advanced by dialectical thinkers is directed not against formal logic itself but against the assumption that the conceptual stability required for deductive reasoning necessarily reflects the character of the objects under investigation. Where the subject matter is dynamic rather than static, abstract classifications may provide only a partial representation of reality.
Whether dialectical methods successfully overcome this limitation remains a matter of philosophical debate. The central issue is therefore not the correctness of formal logic, but the extent to which its abstractions are adequate for understanding processes of continual development and change.
Hossein Jorjani 