摘要
批判实在论是一种有关社会科学的哲学理论,它从浅显易懂的本体论出发,抨击了传统科学研究中背离客观实在的种种理想主义倾向,如对“规律性”的迷信、对计量分析方法的过分依赖等。在上世纪80年代批判实在论被引入到西方城市空间研究中、发展为一种新的研究范式,该范式在对传统空间分析研究的批判基础上强调对空间现象的因果机制的阐释,提出了有关因果机制的概念框架,认为只有透过错综复杂的因果关系去把握决定事物的深层结构和机制,才能避免传统研究中常出现的“混乱归因”现象,为此发展了具体研究和抽象研究、深入研究和广泛研究相结合的研究方法,并将其应用于城市空间研究实践中。本研究对批判实在论范式的产生背景和哲学基础等进行了分析,介绍了其理论脉络、方法论和研究实践,并对该范式进行了评价。
As a kind of philosophy on social science, ＂critical realism provided a stratified ontology. The distinction between the empirical （the level of experiences）; the actual （the level of events） ; and the real （the level of structures） implied that the world is an open system which is seen as structured, differentiated and changing. Therefore, social science was seen as a process in motion attempting to capture ever deeper and more basic strata of a reality rather than discover laws. To capture the deep structure, critical realism intended to develop its methodology which is based on the combination of intensive research and extensive research, and abstract research and concrete research.
Critical realism has been introduced in urban spatial study since the early 1980s originally to criticize the traditional paradigms that base on spatial analysis. A lot of researchers in their studies focused on the critique of positivist approach. With the further practice into the relevant researches, realism has developed its concept on causal relations which is composed of events, mechanisms and structures. Basically, some realist researchers attempted to build their big conceptual framework in their research practice.
Critical realism is believed to make a great contribution to urban study. Its idea of the open system and contingency of causation is immensely useful for the researchers to avoid the concept of just one cause producing one effect, and to understand that a lot of causes interacting with each other are likely to happen and to produce a variety of effects in different circumstances. Its idea that social structures and human agency exhibit explanation must attend both to structure and to agency, and any explanation which attends to either exclusively is probably going to be inadequate. Its idea also implies that the best research on urban space is likely to be interdisciplinary. Critical realism has been criticized for its some fallacies.
For example, its epistemology is its drawback due to no
出处
《地理研究》
CSCD
北大核心
2006年第5期775-784,共10页
Geographical Research
关键词
批判实在论
城市空间
成因机制
范式
结构
社会理论
critical realism
urban space
causal mechanism
paradigm
structure
social theory
