lundi, octobre 14, 2013

J. Glenn Friesen: 95 Theses on Herman Dooyeweerd


95 Theses on Herman Dooyeweerd
by J. Glenn Friesen

Philosophy gives an account of our experience
1. Philosophy does not begin with rational propositions or presuppositions, but rather with our experience. Dooyeweerd begins A New Critique of Theoretical Thought by contrasting the continuity of our pre-theoretical experience with the way that theoretical experience splits apart this continuity. He says later, The apriori structure of reality can only be known by experience. But this is not experience as it is conceived by immanence-philosophy. Human experience is not limited to our temporal functions of consciousness. Our experience is not an Erlebnis of mere psychical feelings and sensations, but rather a conscious enstatic Hineinleben.’”—the experience of our supratemporal selfhood entering into and living within all aspects of temporal reality.

2. Our theoretical Ideas (whether in philosophy, theology, or in any science) give an account of our pre-theoretical experience. Dooyeweerd distinguishes between subjective theoretical propositions [vooronderstellingen] and the supra-theoretical ontical presuppositions on which such propositions are based [de vooronderstelde —“that which is  presupposed]. In other words, our world and its structure are given and not constructed. Dooyeweerd opposes what is given in pre-theoretical experience with the product of theoretical analysis in the Gegenstand-relation. Theoretical Ideas are not themselves the ontical conditions, the ontic a prioris of which Ideas give an account. We must not confuse the ontical with the epistemological.

3. Our philosophical Ideas point towards the ontical conditions that make both pre-theoretical and theoretical experience possible; these ontical conditions are infinitely more than Idea”. This is what Dooyeweerd means by calling his philosophy ‘transcendental’. Ideas relate the diversity of the modal aspects to their central and radical unity and to an Origin. By so anticipating the concentric identity of our temporal and supratemporal experience, Ideas approximate what cannot be comprehended in a concept. The theoretical Idea is always a philosophical Idea of the totality and unity of the modal aspects, which have been split apart in theory. In contrast, the theoretical concept is oriented to distinguishing the various aspects.

The horizons of our experience
4. There are four dimensions or horizons of our experience: (1) the religious or supratemporal horizon, (2) the temporal horizon of cosmic time, (3) the modal horizon of the temporal aspects, and (4) the plastic horizon of individuality structures.

The religious (supratemporal) horizon
5. By religious (i.e. supratemporal) self-reflection, we obtain cosmic consciousness of our supratemporal selfhood and its relation to the temporal world, including our temporal body. Our supratemporal selfhood recognizes the modal functions as our own in cosmic time”. Modern thought often dogmatically rejects the possibility of religious self-reflection because it wrongly believes in the autonomy of theoretical thought. But self-reflection is the only way to discover the true starting-point of theoretical thought, and all human experience is rooted in the transcendent unity of self-consciousness. This self-knowledge  cannot be proved theoretically, since it exceeds the limits of theoretical thought and is rooted in the heart, the religious center of our existence. Furthermore, this central self-knowledge can only be the result of the Word-revelation of God operating in our heart. Our selfhood, as the religious concentration point of our entire temporal existence) stands in immediate relationship to God as the absolute origin of all things. Religion is immediately related to the absolute origin.  
Download PDF (31 pages) HERE.
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Current Reformational Philosophy and the 95 Theses on Herman Dooyeweerd
By J. Glenn Friesen © 2007

     How does current reformational philosophy differ from the 95 Theses on Herman Dooyeweerd"? Most reformational philosophers today do not follow the philosophy of Dooyeweerd, but rather of Vollenhoven. Their philosophy is often an echo of objections against Dooyeweerd made by Vollenhoven. Over time, despite the lip service that is given to Dooyeweerd people seem to have forgotten what he actually said. They have interpreted him in terms of these echoes of other philosophers. In my article Dooyeweerd versus Vollenhoven:The religious dialectic within reformational philosophy” (PDF), Philosophia  Reformata 70 (2005) 102-132, I showed the differences between Dooyeweerd and Vollenhoven. These differences are often obscured because the two philosophers use similar terminology in very different ways. The 95 Theses attempts to describe Dooyeweerds philosophy on its own, when not interpreted by Vollenhoven. And of course, the very title calls for a reformation of reformational philosophy to return to Dooyeweerd's original vision . In my article The Religious Dialectic Revisited (2006) (PDF), I tried to show that because reformational philosophy is really immanence philosophy, there is a religious dialectic within it and a synthesis with modernism. I looked at several reformational philosophers, and I suggested a path forwards. 

     In this summary, I begin with Vollenhoven, and then list some other reformational philosophers who have echoed his ideas in opposition to Dooyeweerd. After that, I show the differences in the philosophy of some analytic reformational philosophers, as well as some postmodern reformationals. I conclude by listing ideas of Dooyeweerd that seem to have been ignored by reformationals, but which are included in the 95 Theses. Of course, this summary does not include or even list all reformational philosophers. It is incomplete. But I think it is sufficient to show that almost every one of the 95 Theses has either been rejected by reformational philosophy, or has been ignored by it. I hope that the interrelatedness of the Theses will also show that reformational philosophers who believe that they are rejecting only one part of Dooyeweerds philosophy have often ended up rejecting most or all of it, since one idea depends on the others.

Download PDF (42 pages) HERE.
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