It is impossible to grasp the complex nature of freedom, however, without first possessing the tools by which to understand it from many different vantage points. Likewise, for those who are interested in the dialectical project, Part Two might seem a bit strange. Ultimately, however, the book points toward an integration that champions the movement within libertarian social theory toward multidimensional dialectical models of understanding. It can be grasped only by a consideration of the dynamic and systemic contexts within which it has been embedded. We need both to trace its incarnations historically and to place it in a broader system of classification.
Dialectics is a thinking style that emphasizes contextual analysis of systems across time.
As a methodological tool, it has been used in the analysis of systems of argumentation, linguistics, ethics, philosophy, culture, history, psychology, political economy, social theory, social practice, and so forth. Given its broad application, it is impossible to survey, in the current work, the entire history of dialectics or its subtle appearance in the works of every thinker, from the classicists to the postmodernists. Because it has been so widely used by so many thinkers in so many disciplines from so many different traditions, it would require several encyclopedic volumes adequately to discuss its significance. Short of this requirement, I had to define a context that would enable me to ruthlessly streamline the discussion. Context is no less important to the theory of dialectics than it is to the exposition of the method itself.