REFORMATION
and SCHOLASTICISM
in PHILOSOPHY
Trilogy
-Volume One
and SCHOLASTICISM
in PHILOSOPHY
Trilogy
-Volume One
(New publication!)
Back cover info:
Back cover info:
This is the first Volume in an encompassing study of the problem of Reformation and Scholasticism in Philosophy, focused on Greek philosophy up to and including Plato.
Whereas Plato and Aristotle employed the term dialectic within the context of the human ability to discern or to infer, Dooyeweerd uses it to designate the irreconcilable tension between the two opposing poles of the basic motive of Greek thought. He argues that the kind of dialectic found on the level of ultimate commitments, preferably designated by him as a basic motive or ground motive, not only transcends the realm of logical-dialectical thinking, but at the same time also informs and directs it. According to him, the basic motive of matter and form, directing the entire development of Greek philosophy, is broken apart by an inherent dialectic. The only option is to assign primacy either to the matter pole (the initial development of Greek philosophy) or to the form pole (since Anaxagoras and culminating in the thought of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle), without being able to obtain a higher synthesis encompassing both.
In this encompassing and penetrating work Dooyeweerd demonstrates why the historian of philosophy should always aim at understanding each epoch in the history of philosophy in terms of its own deepest motivation and direction-giving ground motive.
Whereas Plato and Aristotle employed the term dialectic within the context of the human ability to discern or to infer, Dooyeweerd uses it to designate the irreconcilable tension between the two opposing poles of the basic motive of Greek thought. He argues that the kind of dialectic found on the level of ultimate commitments, preferably designated by him as a basic motive or ground motive, not only transcends the realm of logical-dialectical thinking, but at the same time also informs and directs it. According to him, the basic motive of matter and form, directing the entire development of Greek philosophy, is broken apart by an inherent dialectic. The only option is to assign primacy either to the matter pole (the initial development of Greek philosophy) or to the form pole (since Anaxagoras and culminating in the thought of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle), without being able to obtain a higher synthesis encompassing both.
In this encompassing and penetrating work Dooyeweerd demonstrates why the historian of philosophy should always aim at understanding each epoch in the history of philosophy in terms of its own deepest motivation and direction-giving ground motive.
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The present volume of Reformation and Scholasticism completes the second trilogy of Dooyeweerd’s writings with a specific focus upon his philosophy of nature. Unique to this work is his development of his new theory which he called enkaptic interlacements. This theory was an attempt to show how various types of entities exhibit inter-relational connections when combined into new forms that express an enkaptic unity without eclipsing the internal sovereignty of the several entities. The relationship between atom and molecule and that between the non-living components of the cell body and their enkaptic binding in the living organism serve as an introduction to Dooyeweerd’s anthropology, in which he distinguishes between four enkaptically bounded sub-structures, namely the physico-chemical sub-structure, the biotic sub-structure, the sensory sub-structure and the qualifying, though in itself unqualified, act-structure. The problem of creation and the genesis of humankind surfaced briefly before the final – alas unfinished – chapter analyzes the place of humankind in the cosmos, characterized as a central anthropological problem. Although Dooyeweerd’s involvement in finalizing his Encyclopedia of the Science of Law prevented him from completing this work, it remains a valuable contribution to a much needed reformation of anthropology.
REFORMATION
and SCHOLASTICISM
in PHILOSOPHY
-Volume Three
(New publication!)
Back cover info:
The present volume of Reformation and Scholasticism completes the second trilogy of Dooyeweerd’s writings with a specific focus upon his philosophy of nature. Unique to this work is his development of his new theory which he called enkaptic interlacements. This theory was an attempt to show how various types of entities exhibit inter-relational connections when combined into new forms that express an enkaptic unity without eclipsing the internal sovereignty of the several entities. The relationship between atom and molecule and that between the non-living components of the cell body and their enkaptic binding in the living organism serve as an introduction to Dooyeweerd’s anthropology, in which he distinguishes between four enkaptically bounded sub-structures, namely the physico-chemical sub-structure, the biotic sub-structure, the sensory sub-structure and the qualifying, though in itself unqualified, act-structure. The problem of creation and the genesis of humankind surfaced briefly before the final – alas unfinished – chapter analyzes the place of humankind in the cosmos, characterized as a central anthropological problem. Although Dooyeweerd’s involvement in finalizing his Encyclopedia of the Science of Law prevented him from completing this work, it remains a valuable contribution to a much needed reformation of anthropology.
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