Dialectic as the philosophical science of socio-historical relations

This discussion piece provides a general heuristic framework for a philosophical understanding of the dialectic of socio-historical relations. It is concerned with the philosophical issue of how to think dialectically, rather than a discussion of theoretical views held in IR that rely on this mode of thinking. Arguing that IR ought to be the study of human self-understanding and its value for the life of humanity as a whole, and that such a study demands a rigorous conceptual science, the piece discusses how the task of dialectic is to analyse the formation of socio-historical concepts. Second, it sketches out some categorical features of G.W.F. Hegel's philosophy as a science of relation. Finally, the piece uses Hegel's philosophical propaedeutic in order to explicate a didactic approach to thinking dialectically about the difference and inner connection between understanding and reason.