A century and a half ago, a philosophical trend appeared and gradually strengthened, whose representatives critically evaluated the achievements of the idealistic worldview. Under the influence of a critical approach in philosophy, realism also developed in literature and art. Critical realists have become denouncers of contemporary reality.
Critical realism as a trend in philosophy
In the second half of the 19th century, a trend appeared in European and American philosophy, which later became known as critical realism. Its adherents recognized that reality exists independently of consciousness. At the same time, they considered it important to distinguish between the object of knowledge and the image that this object created in the head of a person.
Although critical realism was a heterogeneous trend, it nevertheless became one of the strongest philosophical trends that opposed neo-Hegelianism and pragmatism.
In the United States, critical realism as an independent philosophical trend fully took shape by the early 1920s, when a number of philosophers published a programmatic collection of essays on the problems of this trend in science. The central place in the views of the adherents of the critical direction was occupied by the processes of cognition, in particular, perception. Critical realists substantiated the possibility of cognizing objects of the physical world by the fact that human experience is focused on the perception of the external world.
Various representatives of critical realism interpreted the nature of objects to which human cognition is directed in their own way. These theoretical disagreements soon led to the disintegration of the philosophical movement. Some scholars came up with their own theories, in which they defended the principles of "personal" (J. Pratt) or "physical" (R. Sellers) realism.
Critical Realism in Visual Arts and Literature
The development of a philosophical movement known as critical realism contributed to the emergence of an artistic movement of the same name. It set itself the goal of portraying everyday life as truthfully as possible. Suffering people who dragged out a bleak existence became characteristic images of critical realism in painting and literature. Many writers and artists have turned to hot topics that they drew from real life.
The basis of critical realism in the field of art was the exposure of existing reality and criticism of various manifestations of social injustice. In the center of their works, the masters of the brush and the artistic word raised questions of morality. Critical realism was especially vividly and fully reflected in the works of Russian artists of the mid-19th century, to which, for example, V. Perov belonged.
With their works, artists tried to expose the negative essence of their contemporary reality and to awaken in people a feeling of compassion for the disadvantaged.
In Russian literature, the most prominent representatives of critical realism were N. V. Gogol and M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. These authors tried to truthfully describe life in any form and were not afraid to focus on the social problems of reality. The works of critical realists reflect the vices of society, immorality and injustice. Such an active critical approach made it possible not only to describe the shortcomings of life, but also to influence society.
