Che cos’è il Nuovo Realismo

Abstract

What is New Realism?

This contribution presents new realism as a reaction to constructivism, which represents the mainstream of modern philosophy. It maintains that our conceptual schemes and perceptual apparatus play a constitutive role with regard to reality. New realism is presented in four steps. The first concerns the distinction between ontology (what actually exists) and epistemology (what we think we know). The second is the empirical finding that the fundamental feature of ontology is its predominance over epistemology because that which exists, which is real, does not allow itself to be corrected by our conceptual schemes. The third is the observation that the real is not solely seen as resistance and negativity: in any negation there is a determination and a possibility. The fourth concerns realism with regard to social objects, which depend on the mind, but are independent of knowledge because they are essentially recorded acts, that is, documents.