REALIST THEORY OF SCIENCE

NOW ACKNOWLEDGED AS A CLASSIC IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, "A REALIST THEORY OF SCIENCE" IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW BOOKS WHICH HAS TRANSFORMED, NOT ONLY OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE, BUT THAT OF THE NATURE OF THE WORLD IT STUDIES. SINCE ITS ORIGINAL PUBLICATION IN 1975, THIS BOOK HAS INSPIRED THE MULTI-DISCIPLINARY AND INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT OF THOUGHT KNOWN AS 'CRITICAL REALISM'; AND ITS IDEAS HAVE BEEN INFLUENTIAL ACROSS THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF THE SCIENCES, ARTS AND HUMANITIES AND IN A DIVERSE ARRAY OF SOCIAL PRACTICES AND PROFESSIONS. IN THIS BOOK, ROY BHASKAR SETS OUT TO REVINDICATE ONTOLOGY, CRITIQUING THE REDUCTION OF BEING IN FAVOR OF KNOWLEDGE, WHICH HE CALLS THE "EPISTEMIC FALLACY".EMPLOYING A TRANSCENDENTAL ARGUMENT FROM THE NATURE OF EXPERIMENTAL ACTIVITY, HE ESTABLISHES A CRITIQUE OF THE DOMINANT POSITIVIST AND NEO-KANTIAN TRADITIONS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, DEVELOPING A NEW ONTOLOGY IN WHICH CONCEPTS OF STRUCTURE, DIFFERENCE AND CHANGE COME TO THE FORE. THEN, ANALYZING T