I have long thought that Rav Nahman is trying in the LeM to accomplish something along the lines that the Rambam was doing in the Guide for the Perplexed. While the Rambam was trying to find the right balance between Torah and Aristotle, Rav Nahman was trying to find the deeper meaning of Torah  in a way that relates to people. But I think that Rav Nahman is often taken out of context. I think it would be best to understand in him in a sense of continuing the Musar tradition of trying to see the practical implications of Torah and the big picture.