Realist realism

[ccord]

In philosophy, "realism" broadly refers to any understanding in which reality exists in an independent relationship with the knower attempting to understand or grapple with its many aspects. In international relations studies, on the other hand, "realism" means whatever bit of dross a North American political thinker pulled out of their hindquarters, and then painted-over with a thin veneer of rhetoric and logical positivism.

They're two different cultures of thought, really...

I've been reading and commenting on a great stack of essays in M. Polanyi's realism for the past couple of days; hence the sudden inspiration of snark.