|
Critical realism - a way of understanding
truth-claims in science and theology
We start by considering how science operates. We dismiss the
position known as ‘naïve realism’, which simply holds that every scientific
discovery directly corresponds to a truth about the world. Scientific views
always depend on particular preconceptions about the world and particular ways
of measuring it; they are moreover in a continual state of change, and in some
cases undergo radical correction - these considerations are enough to rule out
naïve realism. Equally, however, the success of the various sciences seems to
suggest that they do manage to
articulate something of the complexity of reality, in a way which is open to
ever-new discoveries. So we rule out also any of the more extreme forms of
‘idealism’ which promote the notion that mental concepts are somehow more real
than the physical world.
We revert to assessing a more sophisticated
form of realism, frequently referred to as ‘critical realism’. The critical
realist holds that there is a progressive closening between our views of
reality and reality itself, but recognises that we hold our views provisionally, that we cannot simply
read off the nature of the world from scientific data. The theories and
presuppositions with which we approach our studies are acknowledged to affect
our selection of what data we count as important to collect, as well as the
ways in which we interpret these data. For example, simple measurements using something as basic as an electricity meter rest upon commitments to theories about interactions between current-carrying
conductors and magnetic fields. Experimental data are never other than theory-laden, and there is never enough data totally to demonstrate
every element of a theory. Other reasons for adopting a critical approach
take into account the fact that observations themselves affect the character of
an entity as it is observed (see the rediscovery of the observer).
Click to investigate judging the fit
between data and reality
See also alternatives to a realist position
Or go to applying critical realism to
theology
Email
link | Feedback | Contributed by: Dr. Christopher Southgate
Source: God, Humanity and the Cosmos (T&T Clark, 1999)
|
