Mervyn Hartwig

This book on the philosophy of critical realism and meta-Reality and its development is based on conversations between Roy Bhaskar, the originator of the philosophy, and Savita Singh, a distinguished Indian poet and social theorist. The wide range of topics covered include the priority of being over thought, reversing the traditional emphasis in the West; transcendence as an everyday phenomenon; the prefiguration of the good society in the characteristic labour of women; the metacritique of Nietzsche and Derrida, and of Marx and Marxism; recognition and immortality; and the principle of hermeticism: there is no authority but yourself. The book will appeal to anyone wanting to understand Roy Bhaskar’s thought, and offers a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in critical realism and its development.

This book on the philosophy of critical realism and meta-Reality and its development is based on conversations between Roy Bhaskar, the originator of the philosophy, and Savita Singh, a distinguished Indian poet and social theorist. The wide range of topics covered include the priority of being over thought, reversing the traditional emphasis in the West; transcendence as an everyday phenomenon; the prefiguration of the good society in the characteristic labour of women; the metacritique of Nietzsche and Derrida, and of Marx and Marxism; recognition and immortality; and the principle of hermeticism: there is no authority but yourself. The book will appeal to anyone wanting to understand Roy Bhaskar’s thought, and offers a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in critical realism and its development.

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 of The Formation of Critical Realism makes 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.

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 of The Formation of Critical Realism makes 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.