A Realist Theory Of Science

Author : Roy Bhaskar
Publisher : Verso Books
ISBN 13 : 1789603536
Total Pages : 367 pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Realist Theory of Science written by Roy Bhaskar and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Realist Theory of Science is one of the few books that have changed our understanding of the philosophy of science. In this analysis of the natural sciences, with a particular focus on the experimental process itself, Roy Bhaskar provides a definitive critique of the traditional, positivist conception of science and stakes out an alternative, realist position. Since it original publication in 1975, a movement known as 'Critical Realism', which is both intellectually diverse and international in scope, has developed on the basis of key concepts outlined in the text. The book has been hailed in many quarters as a 'Copernican Revolution' in the study of the nature of science, and the implications of its account have been far-reaching for many fields of the humanities and social sciences.

Author : Roy Bhaskar
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134050860
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.64/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Realist Theory of Science written by Roy Bhaskar and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-01-28 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2008. Now acknowledged as a classic in the philosophy of science, A Realist Theory of Science is one of the very few books which has transformed not only our understanding of science, but that of the nature of the world it studies. Since its original publication in 1975, the book has inspired the multi-disciplinary and international movement of thought known as "critical realism"; and its ideas have been influential across the whole spectrum of the sciences, arts and humanities and in a diverse array of social practices and professions. In this book, Roy Bhaskar sets out to revindicate ontology, critiquing the reduction of being in favor of knowledge, which he calls the "epistemic fallacy". Employing a transcendental argument from the nature of experimental activity, he establishes a critique of the dominant positivist and neo-Kantian traditions in the philosophy of science, developing a new ontology in which concepts of structure, difference and change come to the fore. Then, analyzing the nature of scientific discovery and development, he shows how, against both the empiricist and rationalist traditions, science can come to have a posteriori knowledge of natural necessity. The resultant position, which the author characterizes as transcendental realism, has the power to resolve many traditional philosophical problems, such as the problem of induction. At the same time it lays the basis for radically new accounts of social science, ethics and the project of human emancipation. A new introduction to this edition by Mervyn Hartwig decribes the significance of A Realist Theory of Science throughout the humanities world, and offers an expert critique of its content.

Author : Roy Bhaskar
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134009410
Total Pages : 325 pages
Book Rating : 4.11/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation written by Roy Bhaskar and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-01-26 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following on from Roy Bhaskar’s first two books, A Realist Theory of Science and The Possibility of Naturalism, Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation, establishes the conception of social science as explanatory—and thence emancipatory—critique. Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation starts from an assessment of the impasse of contemporary accounts of science as stemming from an incomplete critique of positivism. It then proceeds to a systematic exposition of scientific realism in the form of transcendental realism, highlighting a conception of science as explanatory of a structured, differentiated and changing world. Turning to the social domain, the book argues for a view of the social order as conditioned by, and emergent from, nature. Advocating a critical naturalism, the author shows how the transformational model of social activity together with the conception of social science as explanatory critique which it entails, resolves the divisions and dualisms besetting orthodox social and normative theory: between society and the individual, structure and agency, meaning and behavior, mind and body, reason and cause, fact and value, and theory and practice. The book then goes on to discuss the emancipatory implications of social science and sketches the nature of the depth investigation characteristically entailed. In the highly innovative third part of the book Roy Bhaskar completes his critique of positivism by developing a theory of philosophical discourse and ideology, on the basis of the transcendental realism and critical naturalism already developed, showing how positivism functions as a restrictive ideology of and for science and other social practices.

Author : K. Brad Wray
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108415210
Total Pages : 237 pages
Book Rating : 4.17/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Resisting Scientific Realism written by K. Brad Wray and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-11 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a spirited defence of anti-realism in philosophy of science. Shows the historical evidence and logical challenges facing scientific realism.

Author : Samir Okasha
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191062782
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.80/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Philosophy of Science: Very Short Introduction written by Samir Okasha and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-07-21 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How much faith should we place in what scientists tell us? Is it possible for scientific knowledge to be fully 'objective'? What, really, can be defined as science? In the second edition of this Very Short Introduction, Samir Okasha explores the main themes and theories of contemporary philosophy of science, and investigates fascinating, challenging questions such as these. Starting at the very beginning, with a concise overview of the history of science, Okasha examines the nature of fundamental practices such as reasoning, causation, and explanation. Looking at scientific revolutions and the issue of scientific change, he asks whether there is a discernible pattern to the way scientific ideas change over time, and discusses realist versus anti-realist attitudes towards science. He finishes by considering science today, and the social and ethical philosophical questions surrounding modern science. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Roy Bhaskar
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 113696701X
Total Pages : 181 pages
Book Rating : 4.16/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Philosophy and the Idea of Freedom written by Roy Bhaskar and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-28 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2011. In Philosophy and the Idea of Freedom Roy Bhaskar sets out to develop a critique of the work of Richard Rorty, who must be one of the most in?uential authors of recent decades. In a brilliant tour de force, Bhaskar shows how Rorty falls victim to the very epistemological problematic Rorty himself describes. Roy Bhaskar argues that Rorty’s account of science and knowledge is based on a half-truth. He sees the historicity of knowledge but cannot sustain its rationality or the reality of the objects it describes. The author further argues that Rorty’s problem-?eld replicates the Kantian resolution of the third antinomy: we are determined as material bodies, but free as discursive (speaking and writing) subjects. Rorty’s actualism (like Kant’s) makes human agency impossible. Developing his own critical realism, Bhaskar shows just where Rorty’s system comes unstuck, and how the philosophical problems to which it gives rise can be rationally resolved and explained. In this process Bhaskar utilizes his critique of Rorty to begin to elaborate his own alternative interpretation and critique of the philosophical conversation of the West.

Author : Peter T. Manicas
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139457063
Total Pages : 7 pages
Book Rating : 4.64/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Realist Philosophy of Social Science written by Peter T. Manicas and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-06-15 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This introduction to the philosophy of social science provides an original conception of the task and nature of social inquiry. Peter Manicas discusses the role of causality seen in the physical sciences and offers a reassessment of the problem of explanation from a realist perspective. He argues that the fundamental goal of theory in both the natural and social sciences is not, contrary to widespread opinion, prediction and control, or the explanation of events (including behaviour). Instead, theory aims to provide an understanding of the processes which, together, produce the contingent outcomes of experience. Offering a host of concrete illustrations and examples of critical ideas and issues, this accessible book will be of interest to students of the philosophy of social science, and social scientists from a range of disciplines.

Author : Anjan Chakravartty
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139468391
Total Pages : 235 pages
Book Rating : 4.98/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism written by Anjan Chakravartty and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-10-18 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific realism is the view that our best scientific theories give approximately true descriptions of both observable and unobservable aspects of a mind-independent world. Debates between realists and their critics are at the very heart of the philosophy of science. Anjan Chakravartty traces the contemporary evolution of realism by examining the most promising strategies adopted by its proponents in response to the forceful challenges of antirealist sceptics, resulting in a positive proposal for scientific realism today. He examines the core principles of the realist position, and sheds light on topics including the varieties of metaphysical commitment required, and the nature of the conflict between realism and its empiricist rivals. By illuminating the connections between realist interpretations of scientific knowledge and the metaphysical foundations supporting them, his book offers a compelling vision of how realism can provide an internally consistent and coherent account of scientific knowledge.

Author : Margaret Archer
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136287256
Total Pages : 784 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Critical Realism written by Margaret Archer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 784 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical realism is a movement in philosophy and the human sciences most closely associated with the work of Roy Bhaskar. Since the publication of Bhaskars A Realist Theory of Science, critical realism has had a profound influence on a wide range of subjects. This reader makes accessible, in one volume, key readings to stimulate debate about and within critical realism. It explores the following themes: * transcendental realist * the theory of explanatory critique * dialectics * Bhaskar's critical naturalist philosophy of science.

Author : Clifford Alan Hooker
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780887063169
Total Pages : 494 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Realistic Theory of Science written by Clifford Alan Hooker and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1987-02-20 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a clear and critical view of the orthodox logical empiricist tradition, pointing the way to significant developments for the understanding of science both as research and as culture. It summarizes the present confused and highly polarized status of the orthodox philosophy of science. It exhibits clearly the fundamental metaphysical and global presuppositions and confusions that have led to this status. It provides a positive point of view from which progress can be made toward understanding science as research done by real scientists rather than science as exemplifying some prior epistemological program created by philosophers. And it leads directly to an understanding of science as a dynamic force within our society with consequences for the environment and public policy.