Roy Bhaskar
Ram Roy Bhaskar (May 15, 1944 – November 19, 2014) was an English philosopher of science who is best known as the initiator of the philosophical movement of critical realism. Bhaskar was born in Teddington, London, the first of two sons. His Indian father and English mother were Theosophists. Bhaskar was raised in a theosophical household; and his engagement with theosophical ideas wasn’t merely a peripheral interest–it was at the core of his broader endeavour.[1]
Critical realism
Critical realism is a philosophical framework that seeks to reconcile the objective existence of reality with the subjective nature of human knowledge. Developed in the 1970s, it challenges both positivist empiricism, which asserts that knowledge is solely derived from sensory experience, and constructivist idealism, which posits that reality is a construct of human cognition. In his later years, Bhaskar explores the philosophy of meta-reality, focusing on concepts of non-duality and human flourishing. He examines the deeper dimensions of human existence, proposing that beyond the stratified reality addressed in earlier phases of his work, there exists a level of non-dual, unconditioned being. This phase reflects Bhaskar's engagement with spiritual and existential questions, aiming to integrate them into the framework of critical realism.
- ↑ Olli Pitkänen (ed), Philosophical Perspectives on Esotericism, "The Starry Heavens Within. Roy Bhaskar and the Theosophical Depths of Critical Realism" by Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm (New York: Routledge, 2024), p. 300