The essays that comprise Bely's theory of Symbolism were written and published between 1902 and 1912. They cannot be said to represent a homogeneous body of writing; they vary both in philosophical approach and in style. The earliest essays were written under the clear and confessed influence of Schopenhauer's aesthetics. Later Bely turned to Kant, and between 1906 and 1908 devoted much effort to the study of contemporary German neo-Kantian philosophy. Around the end of 1908 he renewed an interest in occultism that had been in abeyance for some years, and attempted a fusion of neo-Kantianism and theosophy. By no means all the essays, however, are written in a recognizably philosophical style. He noted himself that a number of them were written in what he called an ‘Argonaut’ style, a lyrical, highly metaphorical style that seeks to persuade by other means than rational argument. This, though, is a feature that is not restricted to certain isolated works, but pervades very many of the essays at one point or another. It is not at all uncommon for a staid philosophical argument to break off without warning into a passage of a visionary nature. Furthermore Bely made no attempt to work out a consistent terminology for his ideas, and created needless confusion by his use of variable synonyms and his tendency to allow a single word to assume conflicting meanings.

Bely's tendency directly to contradict himself has perhaps been exaggerated; what seem to be contradictions are mostly attributable to vagaries of terminology.