In The empirical stance, Bas van Fraassen argues for a reconceptualization of empiricism, and a rejection of its traditional rival, speculative metaphysics, as part of a larger and provocative study in epistemology. Central to his account is the notion of voluntarism in epistemology, and a concomitant understanding of the nature of rationality. In this paper I give a critical assessment of thes...

Instead of examining critical realism directly, this essay critically examines claims made by two prominent critical realists, namely Andrew Collier and Tony Lawson, on behalf of their philosophy. These are (a) that critical realism supports Marx’s law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall, and (b) that critical realism is illustrated by the workplace organisation theory of the relative...

The result of misunderstanding science by students is their inability as future citizens to impact science public policies. The solution argued last year included creating courses in science studies serving two purposes: destroy students’ stereotypical certainties about science and help them become “historical realists” in regard to scientific practices. But we also speculated that dismissing t...

In this wide-ranging interview, Dave Elder-Vass discusses his main contributions to critical realist theory over two decades. the first half, he explains early work on emergence, agency, structure, concept of culture and norm circles, as well a broad array social theorists positions. Sometimes has involved differences with other realists, including Tony Lawson, Margaret Archer, Alison Sealey Bo...

Abstract Essentialists understand modal properties in terms of the essences things. Given this view, it is natural to think that our knowledge modality ultimately derives from Is view plausible? Do we genuinely have things, a form substantial enough ground knowledge? The more pack into notion essence allow underpin properties, harder claim genuine knowledge. I will argue realists about certain ...

The paper develops a conceptual framework to advance the understanding on theorising the sociomateriality of Information technology (IT) especially with regards to a complex inverse information infrastructure (II) that depicts emergent usage behaviour. Drawing on Archer’s morphogenetic approach, derived from the critical realism (CR) philosophy, we discuss the relevance of understanding theory/...

This essay deals with the concept of truth in the context of a version of internal realism. In §1 I define some variants of realism using a set of realistic axioms. In §2 I will argue that for semantical reasons we should be realists of some kind. In §3 I plead for an internalistic setting of realism starting from the thesis that truth is, at least, not a non-epistemic concept. We have to bear ...

0 Introduction This workshop is meant to contain some interaction between computer science and philosophy. I am a philosopher, and I have got some space to try to make visible some views of my philosophical-ontological realism. According to my experience, I am sorry to say, people who work mainly with data assembled in interviews – be they anthropologists, sociologists, cultural-studies-people,...

The causal theory of reference (CTR) provides a well-articulated and widely-accepted account of the reference relation. On CTR the reference of a term is fixed by whatever property causally regulates the competent use of that term. CTR poses a metaethical challenge to realists by demanding an account of the properties that regulate the competent use of normative predicates. CTR might pose a cha...

Territorial disputes between governments generate a significant amount of uncertainty for economic actors. Settled boundary agreements produce benefits to economic agents on both sides of the border. These qualities of borders are missed both by realists, who view territorial conflicts in overly zero-sum terms, and globalists, who claim borders are increasingly irrelevant. Settled borders help ...