Enlightened Common Sense: The Philosophy of Critical Realism (Ontological Explorations (Routledge Critical Realism)) - Softcover

Roy Bhaskar’s too-brief life was a gift to humanity. His life's work gave us a solid ontological grounding for all those intuitions that most of us feel we should be able to justify, but are constantly being told by the reigning intellectual authorities we can’t: that the world, and other people, are real, that freedom is inherent in the nature of the cosmos, that genuine human flourishing can never be at the expense of others. He lived to provide the intellectual heavy artillery for simple common decency and good sense. Much of his work was written in exceedingly difficult language. This book however, makes it accessible to those who have the most to gain from it: anyone trying to make the world a better place.

Roy Bhaskar writes: ‘If there is a single big idea in critical realism it is the idea of ontology.’ One big idea, perhaps, but Bhaskar developed it in three very different and equally innovative ways. From early depth ontology, through rethinking dialectical negativity, to the metaphysics of metaReality, Bhaskar pushed his thought – and himself. Guided always by the lodestar of emancipation, this final work demonstrates the unity in the three phases of his thought. Always willing to go against the mainstream, it is a fitting final tribute to a great philosopher.

Since the 1970s, critical realism has grown to address a range of subjects, including economics, philosophy, science, and religion. It has become a complex and mature philosophy.

Enlightened Common Sense: The Philosophy of Critical Realism looks back over this development in one concise and accessible volume. The late Roy Bhaskar was critical realism’s philosophical originator and chief exponent. He draws on a lifetime’s experience to give a definitive, systematic account of this increasingly influential, international and multidisciplinary approach.

Critical realism’s key element has always been its vindication and deepening of our understanding of ontology. Arguing that realist ontology is inexorable in knowledge and action, Bhaskar sees this as the key to a new enlightened common sense. From the definition of critical realism and its applicability in the social sciences, to explanation of dialectical critical realism and the philosophy of metaReality, this is the essential introduction for students of critical realism.