After Postmodernism
An Introduction to Critical Realism
1st Edition
Published on 1. March 2005
352 pages
978-1-84714-106-4 (ISBN)
Description
What comes after 'postmodernism'? A buzzword which began as an energising, radical critique became, by the 20th Century's end, a byword for fracture, eclecticism, political apathy and intellectual exhaustion.
The last few years have seen a growing interest in critical realism as a possible, alternative way of moving forward. The virtues of critical realism lie in its successful provision of a philosophical grounding for the social sciences and humanities and of a methodology applicable to many different fields of analysis.
After Postmodernism brings together some of the best-known names in the field to present the first truly interdisciplinary introduction to critical realism. The book presents the reader with a compendium of accessible essays illustrating the connection between meta-theory, theory and substantive research across Sociology, Philosophy, Literary Studies, Politics, Media Studies, Psychology and Science Studies.
The flexibility of critical realism is illustrated in the range of topics discussed - ranging from quantum mechanics to cyberspace, to literary theory, nature, smoking, the future fo Marx, the unconscious and, of course, postmodernsim and the future of theory itself.
Contributors: Allison Assiter, Ted Benton, Francis Barker, Roy Bhaskar, Jean Bricmont, Sue Clegg, Andrew Collier, Justin Cruickshank, Robert Fine, David Ford, Tim Forsyth, Rom Harre, Pam Higham, Philip Hodgkiss, Jose Lopez, Christopher Norris, Bertell Ollman, Jenneth Parker, Frank Pearce, Douglas V. Porpora, Garry Potter, John Scott, Philip Tew, Charles R Varela, Anthony Woodiwiss
The last few years have seen a growing interest in critical realism as a possible, alternative way of moving forward. The virtues of critical realism lie in its successful provision of a philosophical grounding for the social sciences and humanities and of a methodology applicable to many different fields of analysis.
After Postmodernism brings together some of the best-known names in the field to present the first truly interdisciplinary introduction to critical realism. The book presents the reader with a compendium of accessible essays illustrating the connection between meta-theory, theory and substantive research across Sociology, Philosophy, Literary Studies, Politics, Media Studies, Psychology and Science Studies.
The flexibility of critical realism is illustrated in the range of topics discussed - ranging from quantum mechanics to cyberspace, to literary theory, nature, smoking, the future fo Marx, the unconscious and, of course, postmodernsim and the future of theory itself.
Contributors: Allison Assiter, Ted Benton, Francis Barker, Roy Bhaskar, Jean Bricmont, Sue Clegg, Andrew Collier, Justin Cruickshank, Robert Fine, David Ford, Tim Forsyth, Rom Harre, Pam Higham, Philip Hodgkiss, Jose Lopez, Christopher Norris, Bertell Ollman, Jenneth Parker, Frank Pearce, Douglas V. Porpora, Garry Potter, John Scott, Philip Tew, Charles R Varela, Anthony Woodiwiss
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN-13
978-1-84714-106-4 (9781847141064)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/2005
Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.
€163.42
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Book
03/2005
Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.
€44.75
Article exhausted; check different version
Content
- Intro
- Contents
- GENERAL INTRODUCTION
- After Postmodernism: The Millennium
- PART I: VARIETIES OF REALISM
- Introduction
- 1 How to Change Reality: Story vs. Structure - A Debate between Rom Harré and Roy Bhaskar
- 2 The Intersecting Paths of Critical Relations: Multiple Realities, the Inner Planet and Three Dimensional Worlds
- 3 Reading Foucault as a Realist
- 4 The Ethogenics of Agency and Structure: A Metaphysical Problem
- PART II: 'LOOKING FOR' AND 'LOOKING AT' SOCIAL STRUCTURE
- Introduction
- 5 Where is Social Structure?
- 6 Metaphors of Social Complexity
- PART III: PHYSICISTS AND PHILOSOPHERS
- Introduction
- 7 Sociology and Epistemology
- 8 Critical Realism and Quantum Mechanics: Some Introductory Bearings
- PART IV: THEORY, NATURE AND SOCIETY
- Introduction
- 9 Why are Sociologists Naturephobes?
- 10 Critical Realism and Political Ecology
- PART V: COMPUTING POWER: DE-GENDERED BODIES AND GENDERED MINDS?
- Introduction
- 11 Keeping it Real: A Critique of Postmodern Theories of Cyberspace
- 12 Is Computing Really For Women? A Critical Realist Approach to Gender Issues In Computing
- PART VI: CULTURE AND CRITICISM
- Introduction
- 13 Truth in Fiction, Science and Criticism
- 14 Reconsidering Literary Interpretation
- 15 Vaporising the Real: Artificiality, Millenial Anxiety and the 'End of History'
- PART VII: PRAGMATICISM AND POLITICS
- PHILOSOPHY AND PUBLIC POLICY
- Introduction
- 16 Rorty on Pragmaticism, Liberalism and the Self
- 17 Realism and Research, Philosophy and Poverty Politics: the Example of Smoking
- PART VIII: WAYS OF KNOWING
- Introduction
- 18 Descartes's Individualistic Epistemology - A Critique
- 19 Social Movements and Science: The Question of Plural Knowledge Systems
- 20 Do Realists Run Regressions?
- PART IX: DIALECTICS
- Introduction
- 21 Marx, Hegel and the Specificity of the Political
- 22 Critical Realism in Light of Marx's Process of Abstraction
- 23 On Real and Nominal Absences
- Guide to Further Readings
- Bibliography
- Contributors
- Index
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
