a principal maxim, tenet, or settled opinion, particularly with regard to matters of faith and philosophy.

DOGmatical, something belonging to a doctrine or opinion. A dogmatical philosopher is one who asserts things positively, in opposition to a sceptic, who doubts of everything.

DOGmatists, a sect of ancient physicians, of which Hippocrates was the first author. They are also called logici, or logicians, from their using the rules of logic in subjects of their profession. They laid down definitions and divisions; reduced diseases to certain genera, and these genera to species, furnishing remedies for them all; supposed principles, drew conclusions, and applied these to the particular diseases under consideration. In this sense the dogmatists were contradistinguished from empirics and methodists. They rejected all medicinal virtues which they thought not reducible to manifest qualities; but Galen long ago observed of them, that they must either deny plain matter of fact, or assign but poor causes and reasons for many effects which they pretended to explain.