The Formation of Critical Realism A Personal Perspective

This series of interviews, conducted in the form of exchanges between Roy Bhaskar and Mervyn Hartwig, tells a riveting story of the formation and development of critical realism. Three intersecting and interweaving narratives unfold in the course of this unfinished story: the personal narrative of Roy Bhaskar, born of an Indian father and English mother, a child of post-war Britain and Indian partition and independence; the intellectual narrative of the emergence and growth of critical realism;and a world-historical story, itself theorized by critical realism in its discussion of the development of modernity. This book gives an invaluable account of the development of critical realism, and its consolidation as a leading philosophy of our times. It takes us through the major moments of its formation, the principal objections to and controversies within critical realism, the establishment of its institutions, and considers its limits and future development. Special features of the book include discussion of the genesis of critical realism, and the origins and nature of the so-called dialectical and spiritual turns. The informal dialogical style ofThe Formation of Critical Realismmakes it compelling reading and an invaluable source for students of critical realism as well as all those interested in the intellectual story of our times.

1 Childhood and adolescence: dialectic of alienation and wholeness (1944–1963) 2 Oxford days: carrying through the Copernican revolution in the philosophy of science (1963–1973) 3 Beyond empiricism and transcendental idealism: transcendental realism and the critique of classical modernism (1973–1975) 4 The critical realist embrace: critical naturalism (1975–1979) 5 ‘Prolegomenon to a natural history of the human species’: explanatory critique (1979–1986) 6 The axiology of freedom: dialectical critical realism (1986–1994) 7 The spiritual turn: transcendental dialectical critical realism (1994–2000) 8 The philosophy of unity-in-difference: meta-Reality (2000–2002) 9 Where do we go from here?: applied critical realism and beyond (2002– )

Roy Bhaskar is the originator of the philosophy of critical realism, and the author of many acclaimed and influential works including A Realist Theory of Science, The Possibility of Naturalism, Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation, Reclaiming Reality and Dialectic: The Pulse of Freedom. He is an editor of the recently published Critical Realism: Essential Readings and is currently chair of the Centre for Critical Realism. Mervyn Hartwig is a leading commentator on critical realism, and the editor of and principal contributor to the recently published Dictionary of Critical Realism.