Marxism and philosophy: a critique of critical realism

Abstract

By examining the conceptual status of marxist theorising, the author challenges the attempt by Bhaskar to make critical realism a philosophy for the left. This article argues that internal linkages between practice, theory and metatheory, evident in Marx's writings, provide a richer understanding of society than do the structured, causal relationships offered by philosophy.

Reclaiming experience

“…public or shared sense -on to the transcendental stage, he registered just this circumstance. This returns us to the themes of my previous section, since the categories of conversation and of experience are interdependent (Gunn, 1989b). Conversation necessarily invokes experience and to invoke experience is necessarily to engage in conversation.…”

“…'All social life is essentially practical, wrote Marx, and arguably a hermeneutics of practice should replace the causalism of sociologies which believe that 'social systems' are existing entities requiring to be explained (Marx and Engels, 1975, vol. V, p. 5;Gunn, 1990).…”

Understanding Homelessness

“…She holds that these patterns can be explained in terms of realist social theory. In this section of the paper, however, I argue that realism, as expounded by Fitzpatrick, adds nothing to our understanding of how people enter, exit or remain in homelessness (for more general critiques of critical realism, see Gunn 1989, 109-11; Käpylä and Mikkola 2010; Somerville 2012).…”

“…Families were particularly important too: "Those rehoused and in contact with their families appeared to find it easier to resettle and reintegrate into housed society" (Ravenhill 2008, 193; see also Robinson 2008b, 90). 37 This suggests that it may be the showing of care at the breaking point that makes the difference between descent into perdition and ascent into a settled way of life (see Cloke, May, and Johnsen 2010, on "the ethic of kindness" -the unconditional loving care given by a homelessness service provider to a homeless person is key to successful rehabilitation38). The fourth catalyst is then the availability of support and guidance from a range of people and organizations outside the homeless culture, mainly within the homeless industry.…”

Discussion of Willmott

“…It is, therefore, compatible with a wide range of substantive theories. It may be seen by some to have an elective affinity with particular traditions, notably Marxism, but this is fiercely contested by some within that tradition (Brown, Fleetwood and Roberts, 2002;Creaven, 2000;Gunn, 1988) and Collier (1994), for example, argues that critical realism may be congruent with more conservative theories of the world. This is important for Hugh's discussion, because it suffers from what seems to be a regrettable focus on Bhaskar's work, something which is shared by others (Mingers, 2004;Klein, 2004).…”