Xxxxxxx’s Journey to Ontology. 1.1. The original concern – the absence of a theory of the real Critical realism is a philosophical stance, originated by Xxx Xxxxxxx. Since the publication of A Realist Theory of Science (1975), the first book in his CR series, his thinking seems to have developed into a self-sufficient philosophical system. That is, his critical realism has sufficiently developed the three necessary dimensions for it to be a metatheory: (1) what he wants to speak about (the content), (2) how to argue the content (methodology), and (3) its capacity for application to or dialogue with other discipline areas (application or critical realist embrace). However, his genuine concern is not philosophy per se; rather philosophy for him is a way through which he can reach at what he wants to talk about. Philosophy is a tool that enables him to criticise what he finds problematic, and to pave an alternative way towards it. What then is the subject he wants to explore through his philosophical project? The order of publication of Xxxxxxx’s early CR series reveals a logical sequence of subject matter: from nature to society, and then depth critique (of ideology). The first book, A Realist Theory of Science (1975), aims to provide a general theory of science: a philosophy of science capable of speaking of the real world, of ontology (Xxxxxxx and Xxxxxxx, 2010; Xxxxxxx, 1994). Its principal method of argument, named the transcendental realist argument, is subsequently applied to social science and to ideology critique, in The Possibility of Naturalism (1998) and Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation (1986), respectively.18 Although the three-volume work shows its own developmental order, from the theory of natural science to that of society, and then ideology critique, Xxxxxxx’s original concern was a social one. His paper ‘Some Problems about Explanations 18 The term ‘critical realism’ is a hybrid of ‘transcendental realism’ postulated in RTS and ‘critical naturalism’ in PN. This hybrid term, although accepted by Xxxxxxx, was actually invented by those who followed and participated in his philosophical strand. in the Social Sciences’ (Xxxxxxx and Xxxxxxx, 2010, p.22) derived from the thesis he submitted to the philosophy faculty of Balliol College at Oxford. He had set out to complete a PhD in economics, but as the nature of the thesis changed, he moved from economics to philosophy (pp.22-23).19 What was the reason behind Xxxxxxx’s move towards philosophy? In his explanation of th...
