How to Distinguish Dialectics from Sophistry?

Along with the history of western civilization, dialectics has been presented to the public by philosophers of big names suchas Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, and many others, in very different tones. Consequently, after millenniums long practicalapplications, misuses, criticisms, as well as eulogies, dialectics is still like an elusive ghost among the philosophicalprofessionals without being clearly comprehended.The most confusing part of dialectics and thus the biggest obstacle to learning dialectics is its apparent similarity withsophistry. In this article, we will first review the attitudes of Aristotle and Kant towards dialectics, and then discuss howto distinguish dialectics from sophistry through their subtle difference, and finally we will take a look at the relationshipbetween the Hegelian dialectics and sophistry