Realism

About: Realism is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 10799 publications have been published within this topic receiving 175785 citations.

Three forms of realism

Abstract: The debate surrounding realism is hampered by an aversion to expli cit formulation of the doctrine The literature is certainly replete with resounding one-liners: There are objective facts', Truth is cor respondence with reality', 'Reality is mind-independent', 'Statements are determinately either true or false', Truth may transcend our capacity to recognize it' But such slogans are rarely elaborated upon All too often the arguments, for or against, will proceed as though the nature of realism were so well-understood that no careful statement of the position is required Consequently, several distinct and in dependent positions have at various times been identified with real ism, and the debate is marked by confusion, equivocation and arguments at cross-purposes to one another I think it is worth distinguishing the following three doctrines, each deserving to be regarded as a separate form of realism For the sake of definiteness I shall write mainly about theoretical entities in science But the points are intended to apply more generally to issues surrounding realism in other areas, concerning, for example, numbers, mental states, values, and ordinary material objects First, there is what might be called epistemological realism This consists in the commonplace claim concerning some specified class of postulated entities that they really do exist In this sense we are almost all realists about prime numbers and bacteria, but not about dragons and tachyons No particular conception of truth is involved, nor any commitment to what the existence of the supposed entities would have to consist in However, this brand of realism is not without philosophical interest Concerning material things and the entities proposed by established scientific theories, the view will be opposed only by the rare sceptic with the courage of his convictions, who denies that our beliefs may be justified and is able to confine his own convictions accordingly Thus, epistemological realists about X's are opposed to those who, for either philosophical or non-philoso phical reasons, deny that there are such things1 Secondly, there is what I'll call semantic realism By this I mean the

Realism, criticism, and the disguises of both: a reading of Chinua Achebe's 'Things fall apart' with an evaluation of the criticism relating to it

Abstract: Une evaluation des problemes poses par le discours critique sur la representation africaine du realisme et du feminin dans Things Fall Apart de C. Achebe

Realism, Utopianism, and Radical Values

Abstract: One of the more debated topics in the recent realist literature concerns the compatibility of realism and utopianism. Perhaps the greatest challenge to utopian political thought comes from Bernard Williams' realism, which argues, among other things, that political values should be subject to what he calls the ‘realism constraint’, which rules out utopian arguments based on values which cannot be offered by the state as unrealistic and therefore inadmissible. This article challenges that conclusion in two ways. First, it argues that the rationale for accepting Williams' original argument for the ‘realism constraint’ fails. Secondly, it argues that there is at least one genuinely political value of liberty available which is both compatible with realism and something that cannot be offered by the state, namely that of the political anarchist. This opens the way for far more ambitious and utopian forms of realist political thought and implies that the arguments of what we call political anarchists must be met by (realist) political argumentation, not simply ruled out by methodological stipulation.

The Word and Its Witness: The Spiritualization of American Realism

Abstract: "What would Jesus do?" is now a rhetorical fixture, but the phrase was first popularized in one of the nineteenth century's best-selling novels, "In His Steps". Charles Sheldon's book is part of the vast, but mostly overlooked, history of evangelical culture that began during the Great Awakening. In this ground-breaking study, Gregory S. Jackson reveals the full impact of this tradition by exploring the development of religious media in America.Jackson shows how the homiletic tradition in Protestant sermons provided a foundation for the development of visual and literary realism. Evangelical preachers and writers used vivid language grounded in everyday life to translate abstract concepts like hell into concrete reality - a key influence on realist authors that brought about the more secular forms of the movement we know today. This emphasis on the sensuous also paved the way for Protestantism's embrace of new media, evident in the photographs of Jacob Riis as well as the video game "Left Behind: Eternal Forces".With its remarkable scope and timely insights into the interplay between religion, secularism, and politics, "The Word and Its Witness" will transform the way we understand American realism and American religion.