역사과학의 탐구에서 추구하는 두 가지 실재(Reality) -로이 바스카(Roy Bhaskar)의 비판적 실재론을 바탕으로-

Abstract

In this theoretical study, we reviewed Roy Bhaskar’s critical realism and explored its implications for inquiry and education of historical science. Ontologically, Bhaskar’s critical realism assumes that reality exists independently of human beings, and epistemologically it emphasizes the construction of knowledge by humans. The ontology of critical realism comprises the domains of the empirical, the actual, and the real. Its epistemology suggests abduction as a scientific method for inferring events from experiences and mechanisms from experiences and events. Particularly, Bhaskar’s critical realism contributes to the articulation of an inquiry method in historical science by identifying events and mechanisms as two distinct types of reality pursued in historical science and by distinguishing between abduction to events and abduction to mechanisms. The importance of these two types of abduction is supported with a case study on geological research. The concept of stratified reality based on Bhaskar’s critical realism as and the framework of abduction to events and mechanisms can be used to facilitate student inquiry by incorporating the nature of historical science into the school curriculum. These ideas can also be applied to the education and research of other scientific subfields.