Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book looks at dialogue itself, distinguishing it from monologue, duologue, and dialectic. Post-structuralism talks of intertextuality; in these terms, it would seem that dialogue is post post-structural. The book explores the crucial role numbers play in ecology. Alas, the world is either constrictively oligarchic or chaotically polygarchic. The binary syllogistic logic is characterized by the two-person dyad, like the digital computer, the either/or, the good or bad, the correct or false. The essence of the group-analytic approach to larger groups lies in the elaboration of a microcounter-cultural dimension that has been made possible by the group's increased structure. The split cohesiveness of intrapsychic part objects can become coherent through projection into the subculture, and eventually into the microculture of the group matrix via dialogue. This constitutes both a reflection and an action, transforming the cohesive system into a coherent structure.