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.

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.

Theosophical influence

Scholar Jason Storm pointed that Bhaskar's "engagement with esotericism was not superficial or marginal but involved deep participation in a paradigmatic esoteric movement, the Theosophical Society. This involvement appears to have led him to embrace many of the essential esoteric subjects of the late twentieth century." In his paper, he provides several quotes showing Theosophical influence on Bhaskar. For example, exploring his youthful engagement with theosophy, Bhaskar stated:

I knew quite a lot about Theosophy as there were many Theosophical books in my parents’ house, and also many books about religion, and about medicine. So when I went to the Theosophical Society library, which was a good one, I picked on the things that Theosophy did not talk about . . . in so far as I was interested in Theosophy, it was a this worldly interest, my concern was with how it could alter situations in the here and now.

I think what attracted me about Theosophy most, abstracting from my parents’ involvement in it, was an idea that . . . the different religions are different paths to essentially the same goal, which is knowledge of, or identification with, or bringing about, the absolute. To put it in theological critical realist terms, the different main teachings of these world religions are different conceptions of the absolute.

In his paper, Jason Storm concludes that "Bhaskar’s assertions constitute nothing less than a theosophical manifesto, steeped in distinctly New Age and esoteric themes."

Online resources

• The Starry Heavens Within. Roy Bhaskar and the Theosophical Depths of Critical Realism by Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm