Roy Bhaskar

Roy Bhaskar (or Ram Roy Bhaskar, born 1944) is a British philosopher, best known as the originator of the philosophical movement of Critical Realism. Bhaskar was born in London, the elder of two brothers. His Indian father and English mother were Theosophists.

In 1963 Bhaskar went up to Balliol College, Oxford on a scholarship to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Having graduated with first class honours, he began work on a Ph.D. thesis about the relevance of economic theory for under-developed countries. This research led him to the philosophy of social science and then the philosophy of science. In the course of this, Rom Harré became his supervisor.

Bhaskar's consideration of the philosophies of science and social science resulted in the development of Critical Realism, an ontological and emancipatory body of thought that aspires to be the heir of The Enlightenment, avoiding irrationalism and reductionist rationalism through historical self-awareness and dialectic.

The term Critical Realism was not initially used by Bhaskar, who instead developed bodies of work on what he called Transcendental Realism in the philosophy of science, and on Critical Naturalism to extend that body of work into the social sciences. The term Critical Realism is an elision of Transcendental Realism and Critical Naturalism, that has been subsequently accepted by Bhaksar after being proposed by others. Critical Realism, thus understood, therefore includes Bhaskar's work on both the philosophy of science and social science and also his work on dialectic, social emancipation and the history of philosophy.

Bhaskar, who lectures internationally, has taught at the Universities of Edinburgh, Oxford, Sussex and City University, London. Since 1995 he has worked full-time on the Centre for Critical Realism and the International Association of Critical Realism.

In 2000, Bhaskar published From East to West: The Odyssey of a Soul, in which he first expressed ideas related to spiritual values that came to be seen as the beginning of his so-called spiritual turn. This was initially very controversial, as evidenced by the words of Gary MacLennan [1]:

He found God. Worst of all it was a very down market god, nothing more than your common or garden New Age variety, the type readily available at any incense saturated shop frequented by a Shirley MacLaine or Nancy Reagan.

The book was greeted with dismay by many Critical Realists but has since won growing support after the publication in 2002 of his books on the radical development of critical realism which he called the philosophy of meta-reality, when he made it clear that this latest phase of his thought applied to people of all faiths and no faith, i.e. was susceptible to a purely secular interpretation.

Bhaskar married Hilary Wainwright, the socialist and feminist, in 1971.

See also

* Critical Realism
* Structure and agency

External links

* Roy Bhaskar Interviewed
* Centre for Critical Realism
* Journal of Critical Realism
* Web Site for Critical Realism

References

* Archer, M. et. al 1998, "Critical Realism: Essential Readings," London: Routledge. ISBN 0415196329
* Bhaskar, R.A., 1997 [1975], "A Realist Theory of Science," London: Verson. ISBN 1859841031
* Bhaskar, R.A., 1998 [1979], The Possibility of Naturalism (3rd edition), London: Routledge. ISBN 0415198747
* Bhaskar, R.A., 1989, Reclaiming Reality: A Critical Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy, London: Verso. ISBN 086091951X
* Bhaskar, R.A., 1993, Dialectic: The Pulse of Freedom, London: Verso. ISBN 0860915832
* Bhaskar, R.A., 1994, Plato, etc: The Problems of Philosophy and Their Resolution, London: Verso. ISBN 0860916499
* Collier, A., 1994, Critical Realism: An Introduction to Roy Bhaskar's Philosophy, London: Verso. ISBN 0860916022