Epistemology and Metaphysics for Qualitative Research

Tomas Pernecky is with the Faculty of Culture and Society at the Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. He is an advocate of postdisciplinary approaches to knowledge and post-paradigmatic modes of thinking – articulated recently in Epistemology and Methaphysics for Qualitative Research. His scholarly contribution and wide-ranging interests extend to the fields of tourism and events studies which he employs as contexts for examining a variety of philosophical, conceptual, theoretical, and methodological issues.

• Part I: Qualitative Inquiry and PhilosophyIntroduction: Situating Metaphysics and Epistemology in Qualitative ResearchPart II: Key Epistemological and Metaphysical ProblemsIn Search of Truths: Empiricism Versus RationalismScepticism, Idea-ism and IdealismGerman Idealism, Phenomenology, and HermeneuticsRealism, its Varieties and ContendersPart III: Intangible RealitiesSocial OntologyQuantum Reality: Contemporary Views of the Things-in-ThemselvesPart IV: Philosophy in Qualitative ResearchConclusions: On Academic Creativity and Philosophical and Methodological Freedom

An astonishing contribution! Pernecky’s lucid, engaging treatment of this complex subject matter renders centuries of challenging philosophical argumentation accessible and valuable to students and seasoned qualitative researchers alike. This is a work that will explode stereotypes and make you rethink the paradigms you thought you knew.