| Abstract: | In a recent editorial Richards (1990) advocated a realist perspective for geomorphology. Scientific realism, defined broadly, is the doctrine that science attempts to generate true knowledge of the observable and unobservable (i.e. non-empirical) aspects of an objective world. Various brands of realism exist; the particular version cited by Richards (1990) has not strongly influenced mainstream philosophy of science. Also, critical rationalism, which Richards (1990) contrasts with realism, fully adopts a realist perspective. In its broadest sense, realism encompasses the entire spectrum of geomorpho-logic research, thus providing a unifying philosophical framework for geomorphology. |
