Metaphysics

The study/theory of being

Epistemology

The study/theory of knowledge

How do we know what we know?

Hegelian Dialectics

Comprises three dialectical stages of development: 

1. a thesis, 
2. an antithesis which is  a response to the thesis that contradicts or negates the thesis, and 
3. a synthesis which resolves the tension between the two. 

NOTE: Hegel never used these terms (see PowerPoint lecture)

For further reading:

Hegel's Dialectics on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Dialectical Materialism

The Marxist theory (adopted as the official philosophy of the Soviet communists) that political and historical events result from the conflict of social forces and are interpretable as a series of contradictions and their solutions. The conflict is believed to be caused by material needs.