| This question <63|63> overall <62|64> Hans: <62|64>. |
| Question 302: Thread 302 |
| [63] Hans: Invitation to join the Bhaskar reading As you may have noticed, the Annotations often make reference to the philosopher Roy Bhaskar. There is an international email discussion list about Bhaskar, and as it so happens, right now they are starting a collective reading of Bhaskar's works. It is serious philosophy, quite difficult to read, but in my view extremely relevant not only for Marxists but also for any scientist today. The first work which will be read, Bhaskar's “Realist Theory of Science”, argues that positivism is wrong even in the natural sciences. Those in this class who have an interest in these methodologial matters are invited to join us in the bhaskar reading. Announcement and explanations how to join follow below. There is of course no charge for this. |
| BHASKAR is a (virtual) community committed to the discussion of the philosophy of Roy Bhaskar and Critical Realism as a philosophy for science and as a movement for further human emancipation. |
| In Bhaskar early writings, his concern is developing a philosophy for science (and social science). Bhaskar's philosophy for science has “Lockean” motives, as the underlaborer, and sometimes midwife of science itself. Moreover, there are “Popperian” motives in that Bhaskar attempts to explain what scientists are doing when they are doing science (or the dialectic of scientific activity). But were Popper commitments himself to falsification criteria (committing what Bhaskar calls the epistemic fallacy), Bhaskar constructs an explicit ontological realm to understood the driving force of scientific progress. |
| Bhaskar's philosophy for science emerges after 150 years of critique toward empiricism, and more recently the positivist tradition. Movements away from the empiricist/positivist conceptions of the philosophy of science have quite often had thinkers committed to pragmatism, convention and relativism, or an abandonment of philosophy altogether. |
| Bhaskar does not choose any of these routes, but rather constructs a philosophy for science which is capable of supporting an explicit ontological realm, which Bhaskar calls “depth realism,” which has been dubbed Critical Realism. |
| Critical Realism is a hybrid term, which refers to the philosophy for science of a number of philosophers and thinkers of who Roy Bhaskar has come to be know as the figure head. The philosophical position of Bhaskar's first book, A Realist Theory of Science was dubbed “transcendental realism”, and his second book, The Possibility of Naturalism, “critical naturalism”, hence the hybrid term “Critical Realism”. |
| One could argue that in part the significance of Bhaskar's philosophy is the further development of human knowledge of: the world, society, human beings themselves and the universe, along with further human emancipation and freedom. |
| For many people today the practical, philosophical and emancipatory importance of Roy Bhaskar's philosophy cannot be understated. It is the aim of this list to bring forth and discuss this importance. Moreover, Bhaskar's work is often held to be quite dense, deep in philosophical prose, and in short -- difficult. The Bhaskar list hopes and aims to relieve a bit of the anxiety from the Bhaskar reader. |
| The list further hopes to bring together those who may be applying his philosophy to their own work, and introduce and discuss the work being done within the framework of Critical Realism. |
| The aim of the Bhaskar list will be to discuss Critical Realism as a philosophy for science and as a philosophy for human emancipation. Depending on the will of the lists members, the Bhaskar list is capable of supporting different forums, for example: |
| 1) an open discussion forum. In this forum there will be an open discourse of Critical Realism. |
| 2) seminars on specific articles and publication of pertaining to the work of Roy Bhaskar and Critical Realism |
| 3) A Bhaskar reading group. Those who desire such a forum would together decide what they would like to read, discuss and archive. |
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