ON DIALECTIC AND IR THEORY - HAZARDS OF A PROPOSED MARRIAGE

This discussion piece critically considers the merits of Christian Hei ne and Benno Teschke's proposal in 'Sleeping Beauty and the Dialectica l Awakening: On the Potential of Dialectic for International Relations '. It pays special attention to Heine and Teschke's understanding of t he role of meta-theory in the IR disciplinary debate, and to their con ception of the nature and advantages of dialectical thinking. With res pect to meta-theory, the authors endorse Heine and Teschke's basic arg ument and briefly elaborate upon it. With respect to dialectic-includi ng Heine and Teschke's conception of concrete totality and the issue o f theory and practice-the authors criticise Heine and Teschke's monist ic proposal and recast it in a pluralistic fashion. Finally, the piece concludes with some thoughts on an alternative agenda for advancing t he discussion beyond the limits of the Third Debate.