ABSTRACT
Socrates: So, neo-pragmatism then. G.O.D.: Yes, but I’m going to take a somewhat odd and indirect route into
it. Socrates: Well, that is your usual way. I’m used to it. G.O.D.: Yes, I know, but this time it may seem even more convoluted than
usual. I’m going to begin with critical realism. Socrates: But I thought that this kind of issue, epistemological realism versus
non-realism, was just the kind of debate that pragmatists didn’t get into. G.O.D.: Yes, that’s quite right. And we are not going to now either. The
critical realist epistemology or philosophy of science – that will come later – but we are just going to look at one aspect of it now as an illustrative example. It will lead, by contrast, into the pragmatist stance towards religious beliefs philosophically. We are going to look at Roy Bhaskar’s arguments about God.
