Hegel forwarded a theory of how things work called the theory of dialectics, a science of laws of motion and development particularly of human societies.

The theory of dialectics deals with facts in their connection. It tries to show the connection among processes, in a way that seeks to give us laws. So connections and generalizations are the two important aspects of dialectics. Things move in dialectics from stage 1 which is called the ‘thesis'. Thesis is a certain stage or a condition of being. A society at a moment is in stage 1 and it moves to its opposite ‘antithesis' which is stage 2 and finally it reaches a stage of ‘synthesis'. The importance of synthesis is that it is essentially a mixture of the thesis and the antithesis. Elements of both the thesis and the antithesis stages are to be found here but in a newer form. Neither the thesis nor the antithesis is repeated completely in the synthesis. Parts of the thesis and the antithesis give rise to the synthesis and this is how dialectical movement happens. So this synthesis arrived at is the new thesis.