Critical Realism

by Archer, Margaret; Bhaskar, Roy; Collier, Andrew; Lawson, Tony; Norrie, Alan

• ISBN13: 9780415196314
• ISBN10: 0415196310
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-10-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Since the publication of Roy Bhaskar'sA Realist Theory of Science in 1975,critical realism has emerged as one of the most powerful new directions in the philosophy of science and social science, offering a real alternative to both positivism and postmodernism. This reader makes accessible in one volume key readings to stimulate debate about and within critical realism, including: the transcendental realist philosophy of science elaborated inA Realist Theory of Science; Bhaskar's critical naturalist philosophy of social science; the theory of explanatory critique, which is central to critical realism; and the theme of dialectic, which is central to Bhaskar's most recent writings. The volume includes extracts from Bhaskar's most important books, as well as selections from all of the other most important contributors to the critical realist program. It also includes both a general introduction and original introductions to each section.

Table of Contents

General introduction	ix
PART I Transcendental realism and science	1	(186)
1 Introduction: Basic texts and developments	3	(13)
ROY BHASKAR
TONY LAWSON
2 Philosophy and scientific realism	16	(32)
ROY BHASKAR
3 The logic of scientific discovery	48	(56)
ROY BHASKAR
4 Conceptual and natural necessity	104	(16)
R. HARRE
E.H. MADDEN
5 Abstraction: A realist interpretation	120	(24)
ANDREW SAYER
6 Economic science without experimentation / Abstraction	144	(43)
TONY LAWSON
PART II Critical naturalism and social science	187	(196)
7 Introduction: Realism in the social sciences	189	(17)
MARGARET ARCHER
8 Societies	206	(52)
ROY BHASKAR
9 Stratified explanation and Marx's conception of history	258	(24)
ANDREW COLLIER
10 Realism and social science	282	(15)
WILLIAM OUTHWAITE
11 Realism and social science: Some comments on Roy Bhaskar's `The Possibility of Naturalism'	297	(16)
TED BENTON
12 A realist social science	313	(26)
PETER MANICAS
13 Four concepts of social structure	339	(17)
DOUGLAS V. PORPORA
14 Realism and morphogenesis	356	(27)
MARGARET ARCHER
PART III The theory of explanatory critiques	383	(176)
15 Introduction: Explanatory critiques	385	(10)
ROY BHASKAR
ANDREW COLLIER
16 Reason as dialectic: Science, social science and socialist science	395	(14)
ROY EDGLEY
17 Facts and values: Theory and practice / Reason and the dialectic of human emancipation / Depth, rationality and change	409	(35)
ROY BHASKAR
18 Explanation and emancipation	444	(29)
ANDREW COLLIER
19 Neutrality in the social sciences: On Bhaskar's argument for an essential emancipatory impulse in social science	473	(30)
HUGH LACEY
20 Addressing the cultural system	503	(41)
MARGARET ARCHER
21 The praxiology of legal judgement	544	(15)
ALAN NORRIE
PART IV Dialectic and dialectical critical realism	559	(181)
22 Introduction: Dialectic and dialectical critical realism	561	(14)
ROY BHASKAR
ALAN NORRIE
23 Critical realism and dialectic	575	(66)
ROY BHASKAR
24 Dialectical critical realism and ethics	641	(47)
ROY BHASKAR
25 The power of negative thinking	688	(7)
ANDREW COLLIER
26 Realism and formalism in ethics	695	(7)
ANDREW COLLIER
27 The limits of justice: Finding fault in the criminal law	702	(21)
ALAN NORRIE
28 Between structure and difference: Law's relationality	723	(17)
ALAN NORRIE
Index	740