What is Critical Realism?

A Synoptic Overview and Resource Guide for Integral Scholars

Nicholas H. Hedlund

Critical Realism (CR) is an integrative metatheory founded in the 1970s by the British philosopher Roy Bhaskar with the publication of seminal works in the philosophy of science and social science, such as A Realist Theory of Science, The Possibility of Naturalism, and Scientiic Realism and Human Emancipation. Many integral scholars now regard CR, alongside Integral Theory (IT), as among the most comprehensive and sophisticated integrative metatheories developed to date. Numerous concepts and distinctions within CR share an uncanny resemblance to ideas within IT. For example, Bhaskar’s notion of “four-planar social being” and his emergent levels or strata clearly echo IT’s own all-quadrants, all-levels approach. Thus, viewed through the lens of IT, CR develops a robust approach that in some sense accounts for all quadrants and all levels of reality but arguably does so with a level of academic rigor unparalleled in IT as it is currently articulated. As such, CR is a sphere of theory and practice that can be deeply instructive for Integral Theory as it continues to develop into a compelling academic ield, particularly with respect to key ontological and epistemic considerations as well as other important distinctions and integral principles.

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