ABSTRACT
The chapter demonstrates how strong esoteric influences can inform even analytical philosophy of science. Roy Bhaskar, known as the founder of the Critical Realist movement, was born into a theosophical household and maintained a life-long interest in theosophy and related spiritual currents such as New Age. While Bhaskar’s “spiritual turn” at the 1990s is well known (and often treated as an embarrassment) the chapter shows that Bhaskar’s esoteric commitments shaped his philosophical development throughout the years. In fact, the “turn” to spirituality is best addressed as a “return” to the emphasised spiritual ideals of his family. Apart from his exceedingly esoteric works in the 2000s Bhaskar’s theosophical commitments can be clearly seen in the core idea of Critical Realism. Critical Realism addresses that there is a mind-independent, structured reality, which scientific practice describes from various angles but can never depict in its full totality. The main argument of the chapter is that this thesis is a development of the theosophical conviction that all religions speak of the same inexpressible divine truth from their own partial angles.
