CRITICAL SYNTHETIC REALISM AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE, THEOLOGY, AND CIVILIZATION

THE ASONGU PHILOSOPHICAL FRAMEWORK

Abstract

This article reconstructs and analyzes the philosophical framework developed by Januarius Jingwa Asongu, known as Critical Synthetic Realism (CSR). First articulated in The Splendor of Truth: A Critical Philosophy of Knowledge and Global Agency (Asongu, 2026a) and later systematized in Critical Synthetic Realism: A Systematic Philosophy of Truth, Personhood, and Human Flourishing (Asongu, 2026b), CSR proposes a realist and fallibilist theory of knowledge grounded in the interaction between ontological reality and the mediated conditions of human understanding. The framework seeks to address the epistemic fragmentation characteristic of contemporary intellectual life by integrating metaphysical realism, epistemic mediation, institutional analysis, and interdisciplinary synthesis. The article argues that CSR constitutes the philosophical foundation of a broader intellectual architecture—here described as the Asongu Philosophical Framework—which extends from epistemology into civilizational analysis and theological reflection. From CSR emerge the concepts of Epistemic Sovereignty and Epistemic Fracture, which explain the rise and decline of knowledge systems within civilizations. CSR is also extended into theology through Synthetic Theological Realism (STR), which forms the basis for Critical-Liberative Theology articulated in Beyond Doctrine (Asongu, 2026c). Situating CSR within debates in realism, philosophy of science, hermeneutics, and civilizational theory, the article engages thinkers such as Aristotle, Aquinas, Popper, Kuhn, Bhaskar, and MacIntyre while highlighting the distinctive contribution of Asongu’s system. The article concludes that CSR provides a meta-epistemological paradigm capable of addressing the epistemic crisis of contemporary civilization while offering a philosophical foundation for the reconstruction of knowledge, theology, and civilizational life.