After Postmodernism: An Introduction to Critical Realism

by Garry Potter (Editor)

What comes after 'postmodernism'? A buzzword which began as an energising, radical critique became, by the 20th Century's end, a byword for fracture, eclecticism, political apathy and intellectual exhaustion.

The last few years have seen a growing interest in critical realism as a possible, alternative way of moving forward. The virtues of critical realism lie in its successful provision of a philosophical grounding for the social sciences and humanities and of a methodology applicable to many different fields of analysis.

After Postmodernism brings together some of the best-known names in the field to present the first truly interdisciplinary introduction to critical realism. The book presents the reader with a compendium of accessible essays illustrating the connection between meta-theory, theory and substantive research across Sociology, Philosophy, Literary Studies, Politics, Media Studies, Psychology and Science Studies.

The flexibility of critical realism is illustrated in the range of topics discussed - ranging from quantum mechanics to cyberspace, to literary theory, nature, smoking, the future fo Marx, the unconscious and, of course, postmodernsim and the future of theory itself.

Contributors: Allison Assiter, Ted Benton, Francis Barker, Roy Bhaskar, Jean Bricmont, Sue Clegg, Andrew Collier, Justin Cruickshank, Robert Fine, David Ford, Tim Forsyth, Rom Harre, Pam Higham, Philip Hodgkiss, Jose Lopez, Christopher Norris, Bertell Ollman, Jenneth Parker, Frank Pearce, Douglas V. Porpora, Garry Potter, John Scott, Philip Tew, Charles R Varela, Anthony Woodiwiss

Genres: Philosophy, Academic

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 8, 2001

Reviews

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this an uncontrollable laugh was building up. This is the story of the Emperor's New Clothes over again. Some ignorant academic bureaucrats in some weird competition to build some more invisible cloth. The same kind of ignoramuses that invented the concept of *modernism* from a precise word. The intellect of those people was so shallow, their way of thinking was already high tech. In fact, they were clowns preaching scientism. Their followers were even more modern. So what to do? Because the people coming after the modernists were also terribly ignorant, they themselves were the modernists. But everybody knew the first gang as being 'the modernists.' And those were the guys coming *after* the *modernists*. So these wise guys were the post-modernists. They were still ignoramuses, as the first generation and could not grasp the sliding scale. Now there comes the third group. These are the *after postmodernism*. And to heck with the future generations! It's their problems what should they call the ignoramuses of the day. Post-after-post-modernists?

And no, I do not talk about Henry Moore or other people who actually did something. They were doing their art and the leaches like the contributors to this book kept making labels and printing books to show their erudition.

[Trashy Pit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay. Not too good.