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Bhaskar's Critical Realism

- Comparison with Dooyeweerd

This is an initial and rather summary comparison; please contact me if you have suggestions to develop it into something more sophisticated.

Bhaskar's Critical Realism [Bhaskar, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1991] may be seen as a reaction to the solipsism found in postmodernism and interpretivism. Critical Realism says that there exists a reality independent of our representation of it, but it acknowledges that our knowledge of reality is subject to all kinds of historical and other influences. It draws a clear distinction between reality and our knowledge of reality, and Bhaskar criticises much postmodernist work for failing to distinguish between them. It sees reality and our knowledge of reality as operating in two different dimensions.

Would Dooyeweerd agree? Yes and no. There are many versions of Critical Realism. Dooyeweerd examined that by Riehl, and commented:

"We disagree with Riehl only on one point. Riehl's 'critical realism' prejudices his judgment and causes him to assert that common sense or naīve consciousness sets for such a 'theory' concerning the exclusive objectivity of sensory impressions. // Starting from the metaphysical antithesis between the 'world in itself' and the 'world as it appears to us', he neglects the pre-theoretical subject-object relation which is essential to naīve experience. ... " [NC,III:44ff]

To summarise what follows, Dooyeweerd and CR both believe in a transcending reality. But CR has difficulty with:

Thought and thing

Like CR, Dooyeweerd was no solipsist, and initially at least he took the side of realism, but then he moved away from that position when he realised that realism tends to assume a detached observer. Much depends on what Critical Realism sees as the 'reality' that is independent of our knowledge and perception and representation of it.

CR differentiates three strata, the real, the actual and the empirical. As Klein [2004:131] puts it, "The REAL are the causal mechanisms and structures that produce actual events a subset of which then is empirically observed." This sounds reasonable, and very much in line with some of Dooyeweerd's thought, as in the following table.


CR Stratum	What it refers to	Dooyeweerd agrees	Dooyeweerd goes further
The Real	Causal mechanisms and structures that produce the actual	Similar to law side, which is laws that pertain and response to which by the subject side produces ongoing actuality. According to Dooyeweerd, the law side is originally both diverse and coherent, may be diffracted into modal aspects, each of which is a distinct sphere of law. This provides a framework within which and on the basis of which all can existence or occur in meaningful ways. This is the basis for Dooyeweerd's theory of entities. It is only within the law-side that true universality is possible.	'Causal mechanisms and structures', evokes a rather deterministic tone in our thinking. Dooyeweerd's notion of law-that-is-responded-to is much more dynamic, allowing more dignity for the subject (even physical subjects) and freedom. It is also more general, in that causality implies a one-to-one correspondence between cause and effect, while law allows for multiple repercussions. Dooyeweerd's notion is also more fruitful, in that it invites us to ask "What kinds of law are there", which leads to an understanding of diversity, specifically as aspects.
The Actual	What actually happens, whether observed or not.	This is similar to Dooyeweerd's subject or entity side. That is, the concrete, actual happenings, things, experiences, etc. Events arise because, and by virtue that, entities function in the aspects. Entities exist because, and by virtue of, some functioning in the aspects. For example a poem exists by virtue of its meaning in the aesthetic and other aspects. All of the subject side of reality is subject to the law side and come into being as a result of responding to aspectual law.	CR again has a rather thin, undifferentiated notion of the actual. Dooyeweerd, on the other hand, sees things as multi-aspectual, i.e. having multiple simultaneous modes of functioning and of being. While CR might allow such diversity, Dooyeweerd encourages consideration of it.
The Empirical	What is observed. The observation usually being assumed to be not of an informal, casual, everyday kind, but of a formal, analytical, theoretical kind.	Dooyeweerd differentiates two kinds of 'observation'. Pre-theoretical, in which we are aware of things by virtue of functioning in various aspects, including the analytic aspect as an engaged subject-object relationship. Theoretical, in which we 'stand over against' what we observe. We focus on one aspect, engaging in a Gegenstand relationship, which is radically different.	CR does not seem to differentiate these, seeming to assume that pre-theoretical observation can be subsumed into theoretical, as a kind of fuzzy version of it. Dooyeweerd criticised Riehl's CR (above) for ignoring the pre-theoretical subject-object relation.

To Dooyeweerd, therefore, reality is, more fundamentally, law than entity, and meaning than being. It is one of Dooyeweerd's criticisms of Western thought from the early Greeks to today that it has presupposed that reality is, more fundamentally, entity and Being. It is not surprising that Critical Realism has taken on the mantle of entity-orientation.

Entities etc.

However, this is not as simple as it seems. According to Mingers' [2004:381-383] useful summary of Bhaskar's Critical Realism,

CR holds a realist ontology and social-constructivist epistemology: there is a world that exists whether we perceive it or not.
There are three domains, which may be conceptually separated:
- causally operative structures or systems: causal laws or mechanisms
- the events they generate
- those events that are empirically observed.
[The three sound similar to three things in Dooyeweerd: law side, subject side and our knowledge-functioning that makes us aware of them. But there is too much emphasis in CR on the analytic aspect.]
"There is an infinity of events that do actually occur but are never empirically observed."
[Infinity implies countable discrete things. Dooyeweerd would draw our attention to that some things are continuous rather than countable and so cannot be called infinity of events.]
"But what exactly are causal laws? ... The answer is that there must be enduring entities, physical (e.g. atoms or organisms), social (e.g. the market or the family) or conceptual (e.g. categories or ideas) observable or not, that have powers or tendencies to act in particular ways. The continual operation and interaction of these entities generates (i.e. causes), but is independent of, the flux of events."
[That presupposes the prior existence of entities. An entity-orientation, in contrast to Dooyeweerd's meaning-orientation. But the tendencies to act in certain ways echoes Dooyeweerd's notion of type laws in which a thing is of a particular type according to a profile of aspectual possibilities. This is reinforced by the following ...]
"Entities are structures, consisting of particular components that have certain properties or powers as a result of their structure. Thus gunpowder has the power to cause an explosion, a plane has the power to fly ..."
But the focus is on science and 'experimental activity'. Observation is assumed to be of a scientific kind, rather than the naive subject-object relation that Dooyeweerd spoke of above.

So it seems that CR is reaching for something of Dooyeweerd, but is still hampered by an entity-orientation.

On Research methods

Philip Dobson [2002] discusses how critical realism would approach research in the social aspects of information system, especially when compared with the interpretive framework for research as set out by Galliers [1992]. Galliers suggests that the object of research (whether society, group or individual) and the type of research (theory testing, theory building or theory extension) are independent of each other, and he suggests a different type of research method is appropriate for each of the nine possibilities.

Ignoring what these methods are, Dobson makes two points from the stance of critical realism:

"One cannot concentrate solely on a single level of investigation of the society, group or individual: critical realism argues for a relational perspective."
The purpose of research cannot be completely independent of the object of research. That is, the object of research (ontology) is not independent of research method (methodology). Archer [1995:16] points out two outcomes if we assume independence between them:
"Once social analysts have been assured that ontology and methodology are separate issues, why should they not conclude that they can merely select the methodology which pragmatically seems most useful to them (thus sliding rapidly into instrumentalism), because if ontology is a separate concern, then it need to be no concern of theirs. Equally, once social theorists have been persuaded of the separation, what prevents an exclusive preoccupation with ontological matters, disregarding their practical utility and effectively disavowing that acquiring knowledge about the world does and should affect conceptions of social reality? This is a recipe for theoretical sterility."

The relationship between ontology and methodology is explained by Archer [p.16] (cited by Dobson) as:

"the social ontology endorsed does play a powerful regulatory role vis-a-vis the explanatory methodology for the basic reason that it conceptualises social reality in certain terms. Thus identifying what there is to be explained and also ruling out explanations in terms of entities or properties which are deemed non-existent. Conversely, regulation is mutual, for what is held to exist cannot remain immune from what is really, actually or factually found to be the case."

Comparison with Dooyeweerd on Research Methods

Dooyeweerd would agree with a number the points above:

It is impossible to completely separate individual, group and social, or indeed anything else, because all of reality is interwoven. In particular, human beings always function in all aspects, including the social, so no human functioning can be thought of as purely individual.
The interwovenness is relational.
There is a link between objects of research and methodology. This comes from the fact that, to Dooyeweerd, both emerge from modal aspects:
- Entities exist only by virtue of aspectual functioning, e.g. a poem may be said to exist as a poem (as distinct from as a piece of paper or a set of words) only from the point of view of the aesthetic aspect.
- Each aspect gives a distinct research methodology that is appropriate to it. e.g. to study aesthetics required different methods than to study physics.
This provides an inner (intrinsic and necessary) link between objects of research and research method.

But Dooyeweerd might pose a number of critical questions for critical realism (these are some initial suggestions, for which critical comment is invited):

Issue Critical Realism Dooyeweerd

Types of object of research Critical realism accepts there are three levels of object of research: individual, group and society - but on what basis are these differentiated? In what way is it better than interpretivism in this respect? And what about other objects of research? Dooyeweerd can differentiate types of objects of research according to the aspect in which they are meaningful.

Relational perspective Critical realism argues for a relational perspective - but does it make the types of relationship a critical question? Dooyeweerd does: he identifies subject-object, part-whole and five types of enkaptic relationship; that between individual, group and society would be enkaptic rather than part-whole.

Interdependence of object and method of research Critical realism states that these are not independent on each other, but on what basis does it do so? How do we account for the interdependence? Archer suggests this is because we deem certain entities to exist and others not to. But on what basis may we deem the existence or non-existence of entities? Dooyeweerd has a clear answer to this: Entities that are being studied exist in relation to the meaning of an attribute, and to other aspects they might not exist.

Results of research According to Dobson, critical realism cannot engage in falsification (theory testing) nor prediction (theory extension) except in limited ways because 'closure' cannot be created for social situations. Dooyeweerd would partly agree that 'closure' can only be created for science in the determinative aspects. However, it is not so pessimistic about the possibility of prediction and falsification in the normative aspects, because these aspects too have laws, and these laws imply both prediction and testing, though of a non-determinative kind.

Issue	Critical Realism	Dooyeweerd
Types of object of research	Critical realism accepts there are three levels of object of research: individual, group and society - but on what basis are these differentiated? In what way is it better than interpretivism in this respect? And what about other objects of research?	Dooyeweerd can differentiate types of objects of research according to the aspect in which they are meaningful.
Relational perspective	Critical realism argues for a relational perspective - but does it make the types of relationship a critical question?	Dooyeweerd does: he identifies subject-object, part-whole and five types of enkaptic relationship; that between individual, group and society would be enkaptic rather than part-whole.
Interdependence of object and method of research	Critical realism states that these are not independent on each other, but on what basis does it do so? How do we account for the interdependence? Archer suggests this is because we deem certain entities to exist and others not to. But on what basis may we deem the existence or non-existence of entities?	Dooyeweerd has a clear answer to this: Entities that are being studied exist in relation to the meaning of an attribute, and to other aspects they might not exist.
Results of research	According to Dobson, critical realism cannot engage in falsification (theory testing) nor prediction (theory extension) except in limited ways because 'closure' cannot be created for social situations.	Dooyeweerd would partly agree that 'closure' can only be created for science in the determinative aspects. However, it is not so pessimistic about the possibility of prediction and falsification in the normative aspects, because these aspects too have laws, and these laws imply both prediction and testing, though of a non-determinative kind.

References

Archer M (1995) Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach Cambridge University Press.

Bhaskar R (1978) A Realist Theory of Science, Hassocks: Harvester Press.

Bhaskar R (1979) The Possibility of Naturalism Brighton: Harvester Press.

Bhaskar R (1986) Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation London: Verso.

Bhaskar R (1991) Philosophy and the Idea of Freedom Oxford: Blackwell.

Dobson PJ (2002) "Critical Realism and information systems research: why bother with philosophy?" Information Research 7(2).

Galliers RD (1992) "Choosing information systems research approaches" pp.144-62 in Galliers RD (ed) Information Systems Research: Issues, Methods and Practical Guidelines, Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publishers.

Klein, H.K. (2004). Seeking the new and the critical in critical realism: Deja Vu? Information and Organization, 14, 123-144.

This is an excellent critique of CR, well worth reading. But Klein still retains a Kantian presupposition that Dooyeweerd criticises. So we find that whereas in some places Dooyeweerd would agree with Klein, in others he would not.

Mingers J (2004) "Re-establishing the Real: Critical Realism and Information Systems" Chapter 10 in Mingers J and Willcocks L Social Theory and Philosophy for Information Systems. Chichester, UK: Wiley.

This page is part of a collection of pages that links to various thinkers, within The Dooyeweerd Pages, which explain, explore and discuss Dooyeweerd's interesting philosophy. Email questions or comments would be welcome.

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Created: 15 June 2004 Last updated: 17 June 2004 research methods. 31 March 2007 added Dooyeweerdian quote and Mingers stuff, and list of things not in CR. 4 November 2009 Real, actual, empirical; klein.