Worldview: The History of a Concept

by David K. Naugle, Arthur F. Holmes (Foreword by)

Overview

Conceiving of Christianity as a "worldview" has been one of the most significant events in the church in the last 150 years. In this new book David Naugle provides the best discussion yet of the history and contemporary use of worldview as a totalizing approach to faith and life.

This informative volume first locates the origin of worldview in the writings of Immanuel Kant and surveys the rapid proliferation of its use throughout the English-speaking world. Naugle then provides the first study ever undertaken of the insights of major Western philosophers on the subject of worldview and offers an original examination of the role this concept has played in the natural and social sciences. Finally, Naugle gives the concept biblical and theological grounding, exploring the unique ways that worldview has been used in the Evangelical, Orthodox, and Catholic traditions.

This clear presentation of the concept of worldview will be valuable to a wide range of readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467430784
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	07/16/2002
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	406
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

 David K. Naugle (1952–2021) was distinguished professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University. His books include Philosophy: A Student's Guide; Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness; and Worldview: The History of a Concept, which won the 2003 Christianity Today Book Award in the Theology and Ethics category.

Arthur F. Holmes (1924-2011) was professor emeritus of philosophy at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Besides The Idea of a Christian College, his many influential books on philosophy and Christian higher education include All Truth Is God's Truth, Shaping Character: Moral Education in the Christian College, and Building the Christian Academy.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	xiii
	Preface	xv
	Prologue: Uncle Andrew in C. S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew	1
1.	The Wonder of Worldview I: Protestant Evangelicalism	4
	Original Worldview Thinkers in Protestant Evangelicalism	5
	James Orr	6
	Gordon H. Clark and Carl F. H. Henry	14
	Abraham Kuyper	16
	Herman Dooyeweerd	25
	Francis A. Schaeffer	29
	Conclusion and Questions	31
2.	The Wonder of Worldview II: Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy	33
	Roman Catholicism	33
	Catholicism as Worldview	34
	A "Worldviewish" Pope	38
	Eastern Orthodoxy	44
	Orthodoxy and Worldview	44
	A Sacramental Worldview	46
	Conclusion	52
3.	A Philological History of "Worldview"	55
	Word Studies on Weltanschauung	55
	The First Use of Weltanschauung in Immanuel Kant	58
	The Use of Weltanschauung in German and Other European Languages	59
	Weltanschauung and "Worldview" in the English-Speaking World	64
	Conclusion	66
4.	A Philosophical History of "Worldview": The Nineteenth Century	68
	"Worldview" in G. W. F. Hegel	68
	"Worldview" and "Lifeview" in Soren Kierkegaard	73
	"Worldview" in Wilhelm Dilthey	82
	"Worldview" and Perspectivism in Friedrich Nietzsche	98
	Concluding Implications	104
5.	A Philosophical History of "Worldview": The Twentieth Century I	108
	"Worldview" in Edmund Husserl	108
	"Worldview" in Karl Jaspers	121
	"Worldview" in Martin Heidegger	128
	Concluding Implications	146
6.	A Philosophical History of "Worldview": The Twentieth Century II	148
	"Worldview" and "World Picture" in Ludwig Wittgenstein	148
	Donald Davidson on "Conceptual Schemes"	162
	"Worldview" and Postmodernity	173
	Concluding Implications	185
7.	A Disciplinary History of "Worldview" I: The Natural Sciences	187
	Michael Polanyi's Tacit Dimension and Personal Knowledge in the Natural Sciences	188
	Thomas Kuhn's Paradigm Revolution in the Philosophy of Science	196
	Concluding Implications	206
8.	A Disciplinary History of "Worldview" II: The Social Sciences	209
	"Worldview" in Psychology	211
	Sigmund Freud: "The Question of a Weltanschauung"	212
	C. G. Jung: "Psychotherapy and a Philosophy of Life"	218
	"Worldview" in Sociology	222
	Karl Mannheim: "On the Interpretation of Weltanschauung"	222
	Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann: The Sociology of Knowledge and Sacred Canopy	227
	Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: Worldview and Ideology	233
	"Worldview" in Cultural Anthropology	238
	Michael Kearney: Worldview	239
	Robert Redfield: The Primitive and Modern Worldviews	245
	Concluding Implications	249
9.	Theological Reflections on "Worldview"	253
	Worldviews and "Worldview"	253
	Christian Worldview and "Worldview"	259
	Issues of Objectivity	260
	Issues of Subjectivity	267
	Issues of Sin and Spiritual Warfare	274
	Issues of Grace and Redemption	284
	Summary and Conclusion	289
10.	Philosophical Reflections on "Worldview"	291
	Worldview and Semiotics	292
	Worldview and Narrative	297
	Worldview and Reason	303
	Worldview and Hermeneutics	310
	Worldview and Epistemology	321
	Summary and Conclusion	329
11.	Concluding Reflections	331
	Dangers of Worldview	331
	Benefits of Worldview	339
	Final Conclusion	344
	Epilogue: Eustace in C. S. Lewis's The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader"	346
Appendix A	Synopses of Additional Evangelical Worldview Contributions	349
	James H. Olthuis	349
	Brian J. Walsh and J. Richard Middleton	350
	Albert M. Wolters	352
	Arthur F. Holmes	352
	James W. Sire	354
	Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey	355
Appendix B	A Bibliography of Books on the Christian Worldview Not Addressed in This Volume	357
	Works Cited	360
	Index	378

Editorial Reviews

William J. Abraham
"In this wonderfully clear and concise book David Naugle takes a notion that has been flitting around in the basement of modern theology and philosophy and exposes it to the light of day. This account of the concept of worldview is splendid in every way -- sensitive in tone, beautifully organized, laced with fine scholarship, full of good sense, and deeply grounded in the appropriate historical sources. Indispensable reading for anyone interested in the idea of worldview, this book fills a glaring gap in the literature and should become the standard work on the subject in English. "

C. Stephen Evans
"An important study of a fundamental concept often employed by Christian scholars but not often analyzed in a careful way or with attention to its history."

James W. Sire
"In the past thirty years worldview analysis has become an important way for Christians to understand the world. But perhaps because of the massive research required, we have never had a history of the concept or an analysis of its philosophic roots. David Naugle has put us all in his debt. This excellent study will become a standard reference. "

Albert M. Wolters
"David Naugle's book on worldview is a tour de force. Not only does it give a competent and illuminating survey of the history of the concept and illustrate its widespread contemporary use in a number of academic disciplines, but it also provides an eloquent and theologically well-founded defense of the concept's importance for a culturally engaged Christianity today. The book combines easy readability with an impressive grasp of a wide range of academic disciplines, most notably history, philosophy, and theology. In my view this is now the best book available on a key category of post-Kantian intellectual discourse. It is also an outstanding example of what George Marsden has called 'the outrageous idea of Christian scholarship.' "

Themelios
"For those interested in the history of ideas, especially philosophical ideas about how and why we view the world as we do, this is a sterling volume. It will certainly become a standard text."

Theological Book Review
"As a philosophical concept, worldview is a relatively late arrival, first formulated by Kant in 1790. In this admirable study Naugle traces the intellectual evolution of the term in order to establish its relevance for any serious Christian engagement with contemporary culture. . . An exciting scholarly work that deserves and will repay careful attention."

From the Publisher