in logic, "dialectic" is the action and reaction between opposites, out of which a new synthesis (harmony of the two opposites) emerges. This was an idea originated by the Germanphilosopher Georg Wilhelm Hegel (1770 - 1831). "Materialism" is a philosophy which maintains that there is nothing in the universe but matter, that mind is a phenomenon of matter and that there is no ground for assuming a spiritual first cause. "Dialectical materialism" was an adaption of these ideas by Karl Marx into his own "generallaws of motion which govern the evolution of nature and society." He held that a conflict of opposites in human society is the evolutionaryprocess by which a classless society would eventually be reached. See also Marx, Karl in this glossary.—Conquest of Chaos Approved Glossary (8.7.92)