From ianverstegen at yahoo.com Sat Aug 2 11:50:35 2008 From: ianverstegen at yahoo.com (Ian Verstegen) Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 10:50:35 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Critical-Realism] American Critical Realism Message-ID: <249162.67923.qm@web56104.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Hi Ruth, When things settle down I just wanted you to have this Intro in your inbox. Best of luck moving. Ian From Clive.Lawson at econ.cam.ac.uk Sat Aug 2 12:50:52 2008 From: Clive.Lawson at econ.cam.ac.uk (Clive.Lawson at econ.cam.ac.uk) Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 18:50:52 +0000 Subject: [Critical-Realism] American Critical Realism Message-ID: <5D0AFCD4F25@econ.cam.ac.uk> I am now away until 4th August and unable to read mail. Apologies, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can after I return. Clive From ianverstegen at yahoo.com Sat Aug 2 11:52:36 2008 From: ianverstegen at yahoo.com (Ian Verstegen) Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 10:52:36 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Critical-Realism] American Critical Realism Message-ID: <784953.85158.qm@web56101.mail.re3.yahoo.com> My apologies. I was trying to send a personal email to Ruth (quite unsuccessfully!). Ian Verstegen http://ianverstegen.googlepages.com ----- Original Message ---- From: Ian Verstegen To: Continuation of the Spoon Bhaskar List Sent: Saturday, August 2, 2008 1:50:35 PM Subject: [Critical-Realism] American Critical Realism Hi Ruth, When things settle down I just wanted you to have this Intro in your inbox. Best of luck moving. Ian From shivahemmati at gmail.com Sat Aug 9 14:04:26 2008 From: shivahemmati at gmail.com (shiva hemmati) Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 13:04:26 -0700 Subject: [Critical-Realism] question Message-ID: Hello I,m a new member . I joined your group inorder to know what are the critiques of critical realism of social constructivism . -- best wishes Shiva Hemati From wendy.olsen at manchester.ac.uk Sat Aug 9 15:35:52 2008 From: wendy.olsen at manchester.ac.uk (Wendy Olsen) Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 22:35:52 +0100 Subject: [Critical-Realism] question In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20080809223552562.00000003272@Workpcwo> Hello One of the important points was made by Bhaskar in his 1987 book, The Possibility of Naturalism. He argued that epiphenomena exist when there is evidnece but it is being interpreted in ways that are misleading about the reality. Bhaskar hints in this theme that social construcivists often make the same error that positivists were making, and promoting - of using evidence too naively. I would recommend this book "PON", which has been republished in a very slightly revised edition, I think 1998, even for you it's imperfect because its traetment of social constructivism is only tangential to th emain themes attacking positivism and determnist marxism. I found it energising and I especially liked the points about epiphenomena. From agent.redstone at yahoo.com Sat Aug 9 15:41:39 2008 From: agent.redstone at yahoo.com (Fred Zaman) Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 14:41:39 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Critical-Realism] =?iso-8859-1?q?An_Expos=E9_of_=22Strict_Determ?= =?iso-8859-1?q?inism=22?= In-Reply-To: <56897.77779.qm@web63607.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <334559.46961.qm@web63606.mail.re1.yahoo.com> ? The work-in-progress below is a provocative--undoubtedly to many even outrageous--interpretation of what energy is ontologically. By virtue of this interpretation, however, it becomes possible to establish a nouveau foundation in physical theory for a naturalist explanation of phenomena both natural and social. It provides an ontological foundation for an essential unity of method between the natural and social sciences. And thus it may be through the radical interpretation of energy thus formulated, in some 10,000 words, that a successful critical-realist ?underlaboring? of the sciences can be grounded. ? ? An?Expos? of "Strict Determinism": The Free Agent?s Physical Being ? ? ABSTRACT. In the ?strict determinism? of physics, everything in the universe is reducible to energy and matter of various forms and types, along with the impersonal governing laws thereof; with matter simply representing a condensed form of energy. The same will be true of the alternative determinism of the present essay as well--everything is still reducible to energy and matter, and the same impersonal governing laws thereof; with matter related to energy in the same way. There is a fundamental difference, however: energy in the strict determinism of physics is completely governed by nature?s impersonal laws; while in this essay?s radical alternative, the governance of energy--including energy of every kind without qualification--is ?underdetermined? (incompletely determined) by nature?s impersonal laws. So that, in the alternative, energy is substantively nature?s generic ?free agent,? which although constrained in what it can accomplish because of nature?s impersonal laws, nevertheless employs these same laws as the de facto instruments of its agency, through which it (energy) as free agent carries out lawfully its underdetermined actions and activities. The underdeterminism of energy in this nouveau ontology of physical reality literally reduces everything causal to the free agency of energy, in whatever form. Free agency thus, in this alternative ?metadeterministic universe,? becomes the common denominator of everything. The energy of the human body, in this cosmological alternative to strict determinism, although biophysically and physiologically constrained by nature?s laws, nevertheless is the in-principle, naturally- underdetermined, causally-metadeterministic physical being of human free agency. The two diametrically opposed ontologies of the physical world to be compared in this essay, to give them distinctive names, are the here named, conventional ?Agent-Free Determinism? (AFD) vs. nouveau ?Free-Agent Determinism? (FAD). These diametrically opposed ontologies, AFD and FAD, are equally consistent with the laws of nature thus far discovered; but their respective world views nevertheless are fundamentally incompatible. Both cannot be true. The question thus is, which one is humankind likely to accept as ?the real?? Will the world- at-large accept AFD, in which one?s free agency is nothing more than a psychic mirage? Or will it reject AFD by affirming FAD, so that free agency, everyone?s perhaps including Deity?s, is recognized as a fundamental property of the physical universe? ? --------------------------- Reductionism and determinism are decoupled in this essay at a fundamental level. Scientists tend to conflate the two, because the reductionist mode of explanation is facilitated by the idea of determinism, but determinism and reductionism nevertheless are logically distinct. This essay does not argue against reductionism, but rather approaches it from a novel standpoint: that considered with respect to energy of every possible type and description, nature in principle is energetically underdetermined. Everything in the physical universe is at bottom some manifestation of energy, including matter; but the energy thereof, in whatever form, is here considered in principle to be underdetermined by nature?s laws; thereby leaving room for an energetically-grounded ?free agency? in all things, the physics of which is nature?s strictly underdetermined ?Free-Agent Determinism (FAD), which this essay compares to the strictly determined ?Agent-Free Determinism? (AFD) of science currently. In this essay, the free agency of the scientist conducting experiments, thus grounded energetically, will be the essay?s focal point and exemplar. Natural science, deterministically grounded on AFD, considered from the standpoint of the social sciences, is ?ontologically incompetent? at present because it in principle rules out the possibility of free agency, which in the social sciences is fundamental. ? Werner Heisenberg, one of the great physicists of the twentieth century, declared that ?Science no longer confronts nature as an objective observer but sees itself as an actor in this interplay between man and nature.? However, Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg--and presumably other physicists as well--see this statement as a ?dreadful example? of the ?philosophical wanderings? of well intentioned but nevertheless badly misguided scientists; meaning that the ?wanderings? of such should not be taken seriously, regardless of their stature in science. Nevertheless, in this essay we shall further explore Heisenberg?s thesis by showing how it may be that, even before the development of quantum physics, science has never confronted nature as an ?objective observer?; but rather always has been a ?subjective actor? in the interplay between man and nature. The issue addressed here, then, is the free agency of the scientist in subjectively formulating, setting up, conducting, and evaluating experiments; and how to objectively understand the subjective agency of the scientist thus voluntarily engaged in terms of nature?s laws. ? The approach taken is to rethink the conventional ?Agent- Free Determinism? (AFD) of physics, in which everything in the universe is reducible to energy and matter, and the governing laws thereof, with matter simply representing a condensed form of energy. The result is a ?Free-Agent Determinism? (FAD), in which everything also is reducible to energy and matter, and the governing laws thereof, with matter also representing a condensed form of energy. There nevertheless is a big difference between them, however; for energy in the AFD of conventional science is strictly (i.e. completely) governed by nature?s impersonal laws, while in FAD energy--including energy of every kind without restriction--is underdetermined by nature?s impersonal laws. So that energy is then substantively nature?s ?free agent,? which although constrained in what it can accomplish because of nature?s impersonal laws, nevertheless employs these same laws as the de facto instruments of its agency, instruments through which it (energy) as free agent thus carries out its naturally underdetermined actions and activities. It thus is in FAD that energy, lawfully constrained by nature?s laws in the human body, but nevertheless employing the same laws instrumentally in the exercise of agency, is the physical being of human free agency. ? Scientists, as subjective actors confronting nature in experiment, are an exemplar of the physical being of free agency. Energy within the scientist?s body, animating the body through its free agency, although biophysically and physiologically constrained by nature?s laws, at the same time utilizes those same laws as the instruments of the scientist?s naturally given--and thus naturally limited-- free agency. Energy here is the physical being of human free agency. Viewing biological evolution in FAD?s terms, evolution is an ?ascent? rather than ?descent?; and homo sapiens is that species whose evolution upward marks the highest level of biological, social, and intellectual progress achieved thus far here on earth. ? Nobel Laureate physicist Steven Weinberg, in his influential book ?Facing Up,? informs the world-at-large that it should face up to the fact that physics has shown unequivocally that nature?s laws are ?impersonal with no hint of a divine plan or any special status for human beings.? However, this essay clearly suggests that what, conversely, physicists themselves perhaps ought to ?face up? to is the possibility that Agent-Free Determinism, wherein humankind has no free agency whatever--no freedom to choose among alternatives that present themselves, is humanistically incompetent. Free-Agent Determinism is offered here as an alternative, so that physics then has a way in which it will be able to reverse course, ontologically speaking, and seek as its Holy Grail the scientific confirmation of human free agency; which hands down would be the physicists? greatest of all possible achievements. ? ? From matonianuk at yahoo.co.uk Sat Aug 9 19:26:04 2008 From: matonianuk at yahoo.co.uk (Karl Maton) Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 11:26:04 +1000 Subject: [Critical-Realism] question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <489E43AC.9090608@yahoo.co.uk> In which field of enquiry? shiva hemmati wrote: >Hello >I,m a new member . I joined your group inorder to know what are the >critiques of critical realism of social constructivism . > > > -- With best wishes, Karl ---- Dr Karl Maton Department of Sociology & Social Policy Faculty of Arts, University of Sydney http://www.KarlMaton.com President, Australasian Association for Critical Realism Editorial Board, Journal of Critical Realism 'This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time' From mh at jaspere7.demon.co.uk Sun Aug 10 03:44:31 2008 From: mh at jaspere7.demon.co.uk (Mervyn Hartwig) Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:44:31 +0100 Subject: [Critical-Realism] question In-Reply-To: <489E43AC.9090608@yahoo.co.uk> Message-ID: For a brief general take see Diane Westerhuis, 'Social constructionism' in M. Hartwig, ed., Dictionary of Critical Realism, 419-20. Mervyn -----Original Message----- From: critical-realism-bounces at lists.econ.utah.edu [mailto:critical-realism-bounces at lists.econ.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Karl Maton Sent: 10 August 2008 02:26 To: Continuation of the Spoon Bhaskar List Subject: Re: [Critical-Realism] question In which field of enquiry? shiva hemmati wrote: >Hello >I,m a new member . I joined your group inorder to know what are the >critiques of critical realism of social constructivism . > > > -- With best wishes, Karl ---- Dr Karl Maton Department of Sociology & Social Policy Faculty of Arts, University of Sydney http://www.KarlMaton.com President, Australasian Association for Critical Realism Editorial Board, Journal of Critical Realism 'This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time' _______________________________________________ Critical-Realism mailing list Critical-Realism at lists.econ.utah.edu http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/critical-realism __________ NOD32 3341 (20080808) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com From agent.redstone at yahoo.com Sun Aug 10 08:43:25 2008 From: agent.redstone at yahoo.com (Fred Zaman) Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 07:43:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Critical-Realism] Energy: The Elemental Being of Free Agency? In-Reply-To: <334559.46961.qm@web63606.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <764105.68218.qm@web63605.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Energy: The Elemental Being of Free Agency? ? The critical issue seemingly to be strictly avoided on this list, de facto as it seems to be for whatever reason, is that of physical determinism vs. free agency, which considers the ontological incompatibility of: ? (1) The strict determinism of physical existence, whether at the classical or quantum levels of analysis, assumed by natural science, and ? (2) The reality, conditions, and contingencies of that free agency, which being underdetermined by the laws of nature, is the implicit assumption and theoretical ground of social science. ? However, is there any doubt that the determinism of free will effected through human agents, as this determinism is existentially realized in the living of life, is ultimately physical in character? How might the conflict of (1) and (2) be resolved? One? way to achieve this is to simply recognize that energy itself is the elemental substance and being of free agency. That is the ?energy? of natural systems, in principle for all forms thereof, in reality is underdetermined by nature?s impersonal laws; so that energy itself is then the elemental substance and determinant of free agency. ? Why the obvious reticence to discuss this important issue? If discussion of this issue is banned from this list, perhaps in effect through fear of reprisal, then this list will never truly address the critical issues regarding ?agency? and ?structure,? raised by critical realist philosophy in ?The Possibility of Naturalism? and elsewhere. Resolving the fundamental conflict between nature?s physical determinism and human free agency will be key to ?The Possibility of Naturalism? touted by Roy Bhaskar?s critical realist philosophy; for only then can ?conclusions taken from reflections on the natural sciences be transposed to the context of social science,? thereby validating ?the essential comparability of the two domains? (PON, p.3). ? Fred Zaman ? ? --- On Sat, 8/9/08, Fred Zaman wrote: From: Fred Zaman Subject: [Critical-Realism] An Expos? of "Strict Determinism" To: "Continuation of the Spoon Bhaskar List" Date: Saturday, August 9, 2008, 3:41 PM ? The work-in-progress below is a provocative--undoubtedly to many even outrageous--interpretation of what energy is ontologically. By virtue of this interpretation, however, it becomes possible to establish a nouveau foundation in physical theory for a naturalist explanation of phenomena both natural and social. It provides an ontological foundation for an essential unity of method between the natural and social sciences. And thus it may be through the radical interpretation of energy thus formulated, in some 10,000 words, that a successful critical-realist ?underlaboring? of the sciences can be grounded. ? ? An?Expos? of "Strict Determinism": The Free Agent?s Physical Being ? ? ABSTRACT. In the ?strict determinism? of physics, everything in the universe is reducible to energy and matter of various forms and types, along with the impersonal governing laws thereof; with matter simply representing a condensed form of energy. The same will be true of the alternative determinism of the present essay as well--everything is still reducible to energy and matter, and the same impersonal governing laws thereof; with matter related to energy in the same way. There is a fundamental difference, however: energy in the strict determinism of physics is completely governed by nature?s impersonal laws; while in this essay?s radical alternative, the governance of energy--including energy of every kind without qualification--is ?underdetermined? (incompletely determined) by nature?s impersonal laws. So that, in the alternative, energy is substantively nature?s generic ?free agent,? which although constrained in what it can accomplish because of nature?s impersonal laws, nevertheless employs these same laws as the de facto instruments of its agency, through which it (energy) as free agent carries out lawfully its underdetermined actions and activities. The underdeterminism of energy in this nouveau ontology of physical reality literally reduces everything causal to the free agency of energy, in whatever form. Free agency thus, in this alternative ?metadeterministic universe,? becomes the common denominator of everything. The energy of the human body, in this cosmological alternative to strict determinism, although biophysically and physiologically constrained by nature?s laws, nevertheless is the in-principle, naturally- underdetermined, causally-metadeterministic physical being of human free agency. The two diametrically opposed ontologies of the physical world to be compared in this essay, to give them distinctive names, are the here named, conventional ?Agent-Free Determinism? (AFD) vs. nouveau ?Free-Agent Determinism? (FAD). These diametrically opposed ontologies, AFD and FAD, are equally consistent with the laws of nature thus far discovered; but their respective world views nevertheless are fundamentally incompatible. Both cannot be true. The question thus is, which one is humankind likely to accept as ?the real?? Will the world- at-large accept AFD, in which one?s free agency is nothing more than a psychic mirage? Or will it reject AFD by affirming FAD, so that free agency, everyone?s perhaps including Deity?s, is recognized as a fundamental property of the physical universe? ? --------------------------- Reductionism and determinism are decoupled in this essay at a fundamental level. Scientists tend to conflate the two, because the reductionist mode of explanation is facilitated by the idea of determinism, but determinism and reductionism nevertheless are logically distinct. This essay does not argue against reductionism, but rather approaches it from a novel standpoint: that considered with respect to energy of every possible type and description, nature in principle is energetically underdetermined. Everything in the physical universe is at bottom some manifestation of energy, including matter; but the energy thereof, in whatever form, is here considered in principle to be underdetermined by nature?s laws; thereby leaving room for an energetically-grounded ?free agency? in all things, the physics of which is nature?s strictly underdetermined ?Free-Agent Determinism (FAD), which this essay compares to the strictly determined ?Agent-Free Determinism? (AFD) of science currently. In this essay, the free agency of the scientist conducting experiments, thus grounded energetically, will be the essay?s focal point and exemplar. Natural science, deterministically grounded on AFD, considered from the standpoint of the social sciences, is ?ontologically incompetent? at present because it in principle rules out the possibility of free agency, which in the social sciences is fundamental. ? Werner Heisenberg, one of the great physicists of the twentieth century, declared that ?Science no longer confronts nature as an objective observer but sees itself as an actor in this interplay between man and nature.? However, Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg--and presumably other physicists as well--see this statement as a ?dreadful example? of the ?philosophical wanderings? of well intentioned but nevertheless badly misguided scientists; meaning that the ?wanderings? of such should not be taken seriously, regardless of their stature in science. Nevertheless, in this essay we shall further explore Heisenberg?s thesis by showing how it may be that, even before the development of quantum physics, science has never confronted nature as an ?objective observer?; but rather always has been a ?subjective actor? in the interplay between man and nature. The issue addressed here, then, is the free agency of the scientist in subjectively formulating, setting up, conducting, and evaluating experiments; and how to objectively understand the subjective agency of the scientist thus voluntarily engaged in terms of nature?s laws. ? The approach taken is to rethink the conventional ?Agent- Free Determinism? (AFD) of physics, in which everything in the universe is reducible to energy and matter, and the governing laws thereof, with matter simply representing a condensed form of energy. The result is a ?Free-Agent Determinism? (FAD), in which everything also is reducible to energy and matter, and the governing laws thereof, with matter also representing a condensed form of energy. There nevertheless is a big difference between them, however; for energy in the AFD of conventional science is strictly (i.e. completely) governed by nature?s impersonal laws, while in FAD energy--including energy of every kind without restriction--is underdetermined by nature?s impersonal laws. So that energy is then substantively nature?s ?free agent,? which although constrained in what it can accomplish because of nature?s impersonal laws, nevertheless employs these same laws as the de facto instruments of its agency, instruments through which it (energy) as free agent thus carries out its naturally underdetermined actions and activities. It thus is in FAD that energy, lawfully constrained by nature?s laws in the human body, but nevertheless employing the same laws instrumentally in the exercise of agency, is the physical being of human free agency. ? Scientists, as subjective actors confronting nature in experiment, are an exemplar of the physical being of free agency. Energy within the scientist?s body, animating the body through its free agency, although biophysically and physiologically constrained by nature?s laws, at the same time utilizes those same laws as the instruments of the scientist?s naturally given--and thus naturally limited-- free agency. Energy here is the physical being of human free agency. Viewing biological evolution in FAD?s terms, evolution is an ?ascent? rather than ?descent?; and homo sapiens is that species whose evolution upward marks the highest level of biological, social, and intellectual progress achieved thus far here on earth. ? Nobel Laureate physicist Steven Weinberg, in his influential book ?Facing Up,? informs the world-at-large that it should face up to the fact that physics has shown unequivocally that nature?s laws are ?impersonal with no hint of a divine plan or any special status for human beings.? However, this essay clearly suggests that what, conversely, physicists themselves perhaps ought to ?face up? to is the possibility that Agent-Free Determinism, wherein humankind has no free agency whatever--no freedom to choose among alternatives that present themselves, is humanistically incompetent. Free-Agent Determinism is offered here as an alternative, so that physics then has a way in which it will be able to reverse course, ontologically speaking, and seek as its Holy Grail the scientific confirmation of human free agency; which hands down would be the physicists? greatest of all possible achievements. ? ? _______________________________________________ Critical-Realism mailing list Critical-Realism at lists.econ.utah.edu http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/critical-realism From dogangoecmen at aol.com Tue Aug 19 05:18:26 2008 From: dogangoecmen at aol.com (=?utf-8?Q?Do=C4=9Fan_G=C3=B6=C3=A7men?=) Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:18:26 -0400 Subject: [Critical-Realism] =?utf-8?b?QmF5a3XFnzIvQmF5a3XFnyAoaXNzdWUgMik=?= In-Reply-To: <8CACFF562E5E6BD-DF4-143E@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CACFF4C844653E-DF4-1427@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> <8CACFF528B9E549-DF4-1435@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> <8CACFF562E5E6BD-DF4-143E@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CAD0046F0C9D87-DF4-1617@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> De?erli Arkada?lar/Dear All/Liebe Freunde/ De?erli Arkada?lar, Bayku? dergisinin ikinci say?s? ??kt?. Derginin dosya konusu Hegel. Size a?a??da i?indekileri g?nderiyorum ve g?rsel bir izlenim edinmeniz i?in ayr?ca kapak sayfas? ekte dosya olarak g?nderilmektedir. The secon issue of Bayku? (a Turkish journal of philosophy) has just appeared. Please find below the table of contents. To give you a visual inpressen there is a picutre of the cover. Liebe Freunde, die 2. Nummer der t?rkischen Philosophiezeitschrift "Bayku?" ist gerade rausgekommen. Unten findet sich eine n?here Angabe ?ber den Inhalt und im Anhang der Deckel, um Ihnen einen visualen Eindruck zu geben. ??indekiler Tabe of Content Inhalt Bayku??tan... From dogangoecmen at aol.com Tue Aug 19 07:57:30 2008 From: dogangoecmen at aol.com (=?utf-8?Q?Do=C4=9Fan_G=C3=B6=C3=A7men?=) Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:57:30 -0400 Subject: [Critical-Realism] =?utf-8?b?RndkOiBCYXlrdcWfMi9CYXlrdcWfIChpc3N1?= =?utf-8?q?e_2=29?= In-Reply-To: <8CAD0046F0C9D87-DF4-1617@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CACFF4C844653E-DF4-1427@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> <8CACFF528B9E549-DF4-1435@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> <8CACFF562E5E6BD-DF4-143E@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> <8CAD0046F0C9D87-DF4-1617@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CAD01AA80ECB3D-DF4-1EA0@webmail-de10.sysops.aol.com> De?erli Arkada?lar/Dear All/Liebe Freunde/ De?erli Arkada?lar, Bayku? dergisinin ikinci say?s? ??kt?. Derginin dosya konusu Hegel. Size a?a??da i?indekileri g?nderiyorum ve g?rsel bir izlenim edinmeniz i?in ayr?ca kapak sayfas? ekte dosya olarak g?nderilmektedir. The secon issue of Bayku? (a Turkish journal of philosophy) has just appeared. Please find below the table of contents. To give you a visual inpressen there is a picutre of the cover. Liebe Freunde, die 2. Nummer der t?rkischen Philosophiezeitschrift "Bayku?" ist gerade rausgekommen. Unten findet sich eine n?here Angabe ?ber den Inhalt und im Anhang der Deckel, um Ihnen einen visualen Eindruck zu geben. ??indekiler Tabe of Content Inhalt Bayku??tan... From lena.gunnarsson at oru.se Wed Aug 20 08:31:53 2008 From: lena.gunnarsson at oru.se (Lena Gunnarsson) Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:31:53 +0200 Subject: [Critical-Realism] Join the mailing list Critical Realism and Gender! Message-ID: <48AC2AD9.1080707@oru.se> Join the mailing list "Critical Realism and Gender"! The purpose of the list is: 1) to discuss gender relations using the concepts and methods of critical realism 2) to network and encourage fellow academics interested in using critical realism to understand gender 3) to discuss experiences of gender bias and sexism within the critical realist community If you want to join, email me by replying this message! Best Lena From Hans.Despain at nichols.edu Wed Aug 20 08:44:15 2008 From: Hans.Despain at nichols.edu (Despain, Hans G) Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:44:15 -0400 Subject: [Critical-Realism] Roy Bhaskar speaking tour USA Message-ID: Dear list members, Roy Bhaskar will be making a speaking tour to the USA in September 2008. There has also been great interest in an additional speaking tour by Roy in the USA, in spring (April) and/or fall (September) 2009. We are currently attempting to identify and collect departments and institutions which would be interested in having Roy Bhaskar speak. He could speak on Critical Realism; Dialectical Critical Realism; The Philosophy of meta-Reality; Applied Critical Realism and Interdisciplinarity; Modernity and the Network Society; Critical Realism and Education; meta-Reality, the Gandhian Philosophy of Non-violence, and Peace; Hegel, Marx and the Fate of Actually Existing Socialism; Concrete Utopianism and Human Emancipation; Metatheory and Methodology of the Social Sciences (including beyond social constructionism and poststructuralism); and the Critique of Richard Rorty and Postmodernism; or any of these related to more specific themes and topics. In August 2008, Routledge has republished A Realist Theory of Science (2008) and Dialectic: The Pulse of Freedom (2008) and a new edition of Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation will be published in December 2008, together with two new books by Roy Bhaskar, namely, The Formation of Critical Realism (with Mervyn Hartwig) and Interdisciplinarity and Health (with Berth Danermark). This should generate great interest in Roy Bhaskar's ideas and critical realism more generally. If there is interest at your institution to have Roy Bhaskar speak, please contact me (please reply to my email, not the list). I would also be happy to make contact with your institution's liaison officer or contact person. Thanks, Hans Hans G. Despain hans.despain at nichols.edu 508-213-2165 (USA) The information contained in this e-mail is confidential. Please do not cross-post. This communication is intended only for the use of the addressee(s) and as such is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, reliance, disclosure, distribution or copying of this communication may be prohibited by law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it and all copies from your system. Thank you. From mh at jaspere7.demon.co.uk Wed Aug 20 15:14:39 2008 From: mh at jaspere7.demon.co.uk (Mervyn Hartwig) Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:14:39 +0100 Subject: [Critical-Realism] Join the mailing list Critical Realism andGender! In-Reply-To: <48AC2AD9.1080707@oru.se> Message-ID: Hi Lena Congratulations on this initiative. I think it would be really useful if topical CR lists such as the one you're starting up and regional ones posted a brief account here once or twice a year of what has transpired on their lists, or alternatively on the CR wiki (or both). Just a thought. All the best, Mervyn -----Original Message----- From: critical-realism-bounces at lists.econ.utah.edu [mailto:critical-realism-bounces at lists.econ.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Lena Gunnarsson Sent: 20 August 2008 15:32 To: critical-realism at lists.econ.utah.edu Subject: [Critical-Realism] Join the mailing list Critical Realism andGender! Join the mailing list "Critical Realism and Gender"! The purpose of the list is: 1) to discuss gender relations using the concepts and methods of critical realism 2) to network and encourage fellow academics interested in using critical realism to understand gender 3) to discuss experiences of gender bias and sexism within the critical realist community If you want to join, email me by replying this message! Best Lena _______________________________________________ Critical-Realism mailing list Critical-Realism at lists.econ.utah.edu http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/critical-realism __________ NOD32 3369 (20080819) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com From gbrown at uow.edu.au Wed Aug 20 19:26:53 2008 From: gbrown at uow.edu.au (Gordon Brown) Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:26:53 +1000 Subject: [Critical-Realism] Join the mailing list Critical Realism and Gender! In-Reply-To: <48AC2AD9.1080707@oru.se> References: <48AC2AD9.1080707@oru.se> Message-ID: Hi Lena, I would like to be part of this mailing list. Thanks for pursuing this. Regards, Gordon Brown On Aug 21, 2008, at 12:31 AM, Lena Gunnarsson wrote: > Join the mailing list "Critical Realism and Gender"! The purpose of > the > list is: > > 1) to discuss gender relations using the concepts and methods of > critical realism > 2) to network and encourage fellow academics interested in using > critical realism to understand gender > 3) to discuss experiences of gender bias and sexism within the > critical > realist community > > If you want to join, email me by replying this message! > > Best > Lena > > _______________________________________________ > Critical-Realism mailing list > Critical-Realism at lists.econ.utah.edu > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/critical-realism Dr Gordon Brown Senior Lecturer, Curriculum and Teacher Education Director, BMathsEd and BScienceEd, Loftus Campus Coordinator, Curriculum and Pedagogy Faculty of Education University of Wollongong Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia Phone (work) 61 2 4221 3792 Fax (work) 61 2 4221 3892 From wendy.olsen at manchester.ac.uk Thu Aug 21 02:22:41 2008 From: wendy.olsen at manchester.ac.uk (Wendy Olsen) Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:22:41 +0100 Subject: [Critical-Realism] Join the mailing list Critical Realism andGender! In-Reply-To: <48AC2AD9.1080707@oru.se> Message-ID: <20080821092241937.00000005320@Workpcwo> yes please count me in Lena Wendy Wendy Olsen Senior Lecturer in Socio-Economic Research Cathie Marsh Centre for Census & Survey Research and Inst. for Development Policy and Management Univ. of Manchester Manchester M13 9PL tel 0044-161-275-3043 web www.ccsr.ac.uk/staff/wo.htm See also www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/socialchange -----Original Message----- From: critical-realism-bounces at lists.econ.utah.edu [mailto:critical-realism-bounces at lists.econ.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Lena Gunnarsson Sent: 20 August 2008 15:32 To: critical-realism at lists.econ.utah.edu Subject: [Critical-Realism] Join the mailing list Critical Realism andGender! Join the mailing list "Critical Realism and Gender"! The purpose of the list is: 1) to discuss gender relations using the concepts and methods of critical realism 2) to network and encourage fellow academics interested in using critical realism to understand gender 3) to discuss experiences of gender bias and sexism within the critical realist community If you want to join, email me by replying this message! Best Lena _______________________________________________ Critical-Realism mailing list Critical-Realism at lists.econ.utah.edu http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/critical-realism From agent.redstone at yahoo.com Sun Aug 24 12:48:25 2008 From: agent.redstone at yahoo.com (Fred Zaman) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:48:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Critical-Realism] =?utf-8?q?An_=E2=80=98Emancipatory_Critique?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=99_of_Natural_Science?= In-Reply-To: <764105.68218.qm@web63605.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <185789.25907.qm@web63608.mail.re1.yahoo.com> If anyone on the CR list is interested, below is one way to begin a very basic critical-realist ?underlaboring of science.? Fred ---------------- On ?Absenting the Absence? of Free Will: An ?Emancipatory Critique? of Natural Science ABSTRACT. This essay is a critical-realist ?underlaboring? of natural science directed toward developing an ?emancipatory movement? that will eliminate the current hegemony of reductionism in science, in both the natural and social sciences. It suggests basic principles for an ?emancipatory praxis? whose ultimate goal is to further develop the critical-realist ?pulse of freedom? in society, through a reformation of science that ?absents the absence? of free will in science currently; i.e. absent the current absence of the freedom in science to recognize that free will does exist in the universe, indeed throughout the universe. The theoretical basis of this effort is ?The Free Will Theorem? of mathematicians John Conway and Simon Kochen, the recent proof of which has established two mutually exclusive physical possibilities: (1) free will is nonexistent and thus possessed by absolutely no one in the universe, or (2) free will is universal and possessed to some degree by everyone and everything, even including elementary particles. This exceedingly important theorem, confirmed by Nobel laureate Gerard?t Hooft, justifies in principle an ?Emancipatory Critique of Natural Science? resulting in the physical grounding of free will, which then can emancipate science from the existing hegemony of (1). This essay facilitates this emancipatory movement conceptually on the basis that energy in principle is ?underdetermined? (incompletely determined) by the laws of nature in their totality including those specified by any future Theory of Everything, so that energy itself is then, par excellence, the natural substance and essence of free will. On this basis it becomes possible to harmonize the laws of nature currently known, but causally reinterpreted as the de facto instruments of energy?s intrinsic free will, with a universe in which free will to some degree is possessed by everyone and everything. The Emancipatory Critique thus formulated potentially can theoretically unify the natural and social sciences. Stress is placed on the importance of this unification for the emancipation of both science and the rational society from the current hegemony of ?reductionist science.? ? From Clive.Lawson at econ.cam.ac.uk Sun Aug 24 13:48:48 2008 From: Clive.Lawson at econ.cam.ac.uk (Clive.Lawson at econ.cam.ac.uk) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:48:48 +0000 Subject: [Critical-Realism] =?utf-8?q?_An_=E2=80=98Emancipatory_Critique?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=99_of_Natural_Science?= Message-ID: <7E1A7C45AF9@econ.cam.ac.uk> I am now away until 2nd September and unable to read mail. Apologies, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can after I return. Clive From MOODEY001 at gannon.edu Sun Aug 24 17:57:25 2008 From: MOODEY001 at gannon.edu (Moodey, Richard W) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:57:25 -0400 Subject: [Critical-Realism] An 'Emancipatory Critique' of Natural Science References: <185789.25907.qm@web63608.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1B45AE651C808D458990F881B2B696430DA5B1@exchange.gannon.edu> Hi Fred, Two questions: 1. Is it possible for any one of us to give any meaning to the words "free will" without drawing upon his or her personal experiences of making choices? 2. Can there be free will without cognition? It would seem to me that any entity that is free would have to know about alternatives as a precondition of choosing. Best regards, Dick -----Original Message----- From: critical-realism-bounces at lists.econ.utah.edu on behalf of Fred Zaman Sent: Sun 8/24/2008 2:48 PM To: Continuation of the Spoon Bhaskar List Subject: [Critical-Realism] An 'Emancipatory Critique' of Natural Science If anyone on the CR list is interested, below is one way to begin a very basic critical-realist 'underlaboring of science.' Fred ---------------- On 'Absenting the Absence' of Free Will: An 'Emancipatory Critique' of Natural Science ABSTRACT. This essay is a critical-realist 'underlaboring' of natural science directed toward developing an 'emancipatory movement' that will eliminate the current hegemony of reductionism in science, in both the natural and social sciences. It suggests basic principles for an 'emancipatory praxis' whose ultimate goal is to further develop the critical-realist 'pulse of freedom' in society, through a reformation of science that 'absents the absence' of free will in science currently; i.e. absent the current absence of the freedom in science to recognize that free will does exist in the universe, indeed throughout the universe. The theoretical basis of this effort is "The Free Will Theorem" of mathematicians John Conway and Simon Kochen, the recent proof of which has established two mutually exclusive physical possibilities: (1) free will is nonexistent and thus possessed by absolutely no one in the universe, or (2) free will is universal and possessed to some degree by everyone and everything, even including elementary particles. This exceedingly important theorem, confirmed by Nobel laureate Gerard?t Hooft, justifies in principle an "Emancipatory Critique of Natural Science" resulting in the physical grounding of free will, which then can emancipate science from the existing hegemony of (1). This essay facilitates this emancipatory movement conceptually on the basis that energy in principle is 'underdetermined' (incompletely determined) by the laws of nature in their totality including those specified by any future Theory of Everything, so that energy itself is then, par excellence, the natural substance and essence of free will. On this basis it becomes possible to harmonize the laws of nature currently known, but causally reinterpreted as the de facto instruments of energy's intrinsic free will, with a universe in which free will to some degree is possessed by everyone and everything. The Emancipatory Critique thus formulated potentially can theoretically unify the natural and social sciences. Stress is placed on the importance of this unification for the emancipation of both science and the rational society from the current hegemony of "reductionist science." ? _______________________________________________ Critical-Realism mailing list Critical-Realism at lists.econ.utah.edu http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/critical-realism From m.mcdonald.10 at scu.edu.au Wed Aug 27 02:46:03 2008 From: m.mcdonald.10 at scu.edu.au (m.mcdonald.10 at scu.edu.au) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:46:03 +1000 Subject: [Critical-Realism] invitation to join the meta-Reality discussion group Message-ID: Hello! I am just writing to let you know that I have been very inspired by the wonderful discussions about the philosophy of meta- Reality that I enjoyed whilst I was in London last month. I was so inspired that I was compelled to explore the possibilities of continuing these discussions in an on-line forum. I am pleased to announce that there is now an on-line forum available for anyone interested in sharing, exploring, developing, extending and playing around with their ideas about meta-Reality. I warmly invite you to join this discussion group. The purpose of the meta-Reality discussion group is to provide an international on-line forum for people who are interested in discussing Roy Bhaskar's philosophy of meta-Reality. It is intended to be a relaxed forum in which we can all share and develop our ideas and understandings of the philosophy of meta- Reality, and also expand our experience of meta-Reality itself. If you want to join the group, please go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/meta-Reality - you will have to click on the ?Join This Group!? button to become a member. If you want to send an email to all the members of the meta- Reality discussion group, you can do this by sending an email to: meta-Reality at yahoogroups.com I look forward to future discussions with you. Warm wishes, Melanie From Clive.Lawson at econ.cam.ac.uk Wed Aug 27 03:46:25 2008 From: Clive.Lawson at econ.cam.ac.uk (Clive.Lawson at econ.cam.ac.uk) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 9:46:25 +0000 Subject: [Critical-Realism] invitation to join the meta-Reality discussion group Message-ID: <81F9DBB2E19@econ.cam.ac.uk> I am now away until 2nd September and unable to read mail. Apologies, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can after I return. Clive