Taking Taniwha seriously: a neutral realist interpretation of Kingsbury’s approach

Abstract

In "Taking Taniwha seriously," Justine Kingsbury proposes a way for taniwha pūrākau-traditional narratives about taniwha-to be taken seriously by non-Māori, which is one step towards respecting te ao Māori-the Māori world view. Taniwha are powerful water creatures who act deliberately to protect and sometimes punish humans. So characterised, there is an obvious obstacle to those who wish to respect te ao Māori but who are sceptical about the existence of supernatural entities. Kingsbury proposes a way to take taniwha discourse seriously, but not literally. I agree that her view is realist, and that it overcomes the obstacle noted above. I argue in this paper that her approach ought to be considered an instance of what I call neutral realism, and that when we characterise it this way, we can see precisely how it enables the sort of intercultural respect that she seeks.

Neutral Realism: A New Metaphysical Approach to Representation

“…It rejects the reductionist approach as unnecessary. I call this approach neutral realism [24]. Like the realist, the neutral realist accepts that there are irreducible M-truths, but unlike the realist she does not take this acceptance to commit her to the existence of any M-facts.…”