From: Hans Despain <DESPAIN-AT-econ.sbs.utah.edu>
Date:          Tue, 21 Feb 1995 11:04:33 GMT-700
Subject:       Bhaskar dialectic


Chodos points out some very insightful points about Bhaskar.  Having 
just begun to work through his books, my humble critiques are just 
forming.  

Chodos say "I have felt that he is on to some very important things, 
but that there is also a side to his writing that is not hermenetic 
from profundity but from some other unexplained (and possibly 
unjustifiable) reason."  

Yes, in our reading group a few issues along this lines have been 
brought up.  Philosophical justification for much of his argument 
seem a bit uncareful.  Bhaskar asks his ontological 
trancedental questions, e.g., "what must the world be like for 
science to be possible," I not sure that his Critical Realism is on 
very firm ground.  It seems to rest on some kind of "commonsense" 
ontology.  Maybe this is not (philosophically) too careful of Bhaskar.

My response to this, however, is that Bhaskar is concerned with the 
activity of science, not necessarily of its philosophical 
justification, therefore maybe it is justified to accept that science 
is something that is in fact carried out daily, so that a discussion 
and a philosophy of science can emerge with the notion that it is 
possible.  But I have many question about this?

Chodos also makes a point about his resistence to a sharp distinction 
bewteen ontological and epistemological dialectic.  I am not sure 
what he as in mind with "sharp," but the distinction between ontology 
and epistemology is central to Bhaskar argument and critique of 
empirical realism, positivism, empiricism, and rationalism.  However, 
I don't necessarily believe that this distinction has to be sharp by 
any means.  There must, however, be a congitive effort to distingish 
between them.

It seems to me that Bhaskar is committed to both epistemtic 
relativism and an ontological relativism, therefore I believe 
that I might agree with Chodos that there is no "sharp" distinction 
between ontology and epistemology (dialectics).

Hans Despain
University of Utah
desapin-AT-econ.sbs.utah.edu


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