In my previous post I noted that many theological and biblical scholars today are seeking to appropriate a “critical realist” method, but so far not many Christian scholars have engaged with the formative philosophical work of Roy Bhaskar. I think that in particular Bhaskar’s work allows us to see very sharply both the potential benefits and the unresolved problems of a critical realist method.
Based on my own reading of Bhaskar, here are some of potential benefits that I think critical realism might offer theology today:
Critical realism shows that we are actively and creatively involved in the production of knowledge.
It suggests that the production of knowledge involves responsibility to reality.
It claims that there is a basic methodological unity between the various academic disciplines.
It promises a basic method of inquiry which can be applied to any field of study.
It justifies the distinctiveness of the academic disciplines; each discipline needs its own methods and conceptuality, since each is concerned with a specific and unique reality.
It makes dialogue between traditions and discourses possible, since all discourses are in principle open towards the structures of reality.
It ties ethical action to knowledge, and it claims that the goal of knowledge-production is human emancipation.
In my next post I will try to identify some of the unresolved problems which face a theological engagement with critical realism.
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