Vollenhoven,
part 9 Dooyeweerd part 1 (disk 15)
If you do
not observe the boundary in God’s creation you have what happens you have
antinomies toward the law. The
only way to eliminate it is to give proper attention to the boundary.
MY NOTE:
Knudsen talks about the law spheres here but does not list them all on the
audio. The following I pulled from
L. Kalsbeek’s Contours of a Christian Philosophy (ISBN: 0-7734-6950-8) page 40-41
1. Arithmetic
2. Spatial
3. Kinematic
4. Physical
5. Botic
6. Sensitive
7. Analytic
8. Historical
9. Lingual
10. Social
11. Economic
12. Aesthetic
13. Juridical
14. Ethical
15. Pistic
Arithmetic
to Analytic are the non-normative above the Analytic are normative.
There is
here an expression of sphere sovereignty in the aspects. If we look at the various aspects they
have fundamental irreducible nuclei (kernel) of meaning. This nucleus is not logical in
character, they resist logical analysis.
Each one from its own perspective, there is a universality in its own sphere,
it reflects its own aspect of the entire cosmos. So there are anticipating and retrocipating moments. In the biotic you have a nucleus of
mean and clustered around it are subsiderary moments of meaning in either
direction. We attempt to get
certain concepts and what happens we find that we obtain general logical
concepts. The question comes how
do we distinguish those from something else, Dooyeweerd says that as soon as we
get one of these concepts we discover that it is analogical in character
(multivocality in character). The
multivocality does not arise because the meaning has not been clarified in the
logical analysis, but because it goes beyond its basic sense. In each one of these aspects you have
the nuclei of meaning, the analogies, and the law side and subject side
(subject and object).
This occurs
against the background that there is a fundamental character of the reality as
meaning, all reality is meaning.
Not in the sense of symbolic meaning, it is the sense that to express
the self in sufficiency of the temporal world or the lack of self-sufficiency
of the temporal world with respect to its origin.
As we have
God speaking to our hearts and our lives radiating out toward the world at the
same time there is this reflection on ourselves and everything we do. There is this lack of self-sufficency
that we are dependent upon the cosmos that then however every part of that
cosmos reflects every part of that creator. We are constantly reflecting upon our own lives and our
covenant responsibility before God.
The meaning
character of all reality is set up against the idea of substance. Substance is self-sufficent to
itself. Dooyeweerd would say God
is only self-sufficent. The cosmos
is meaning in all of its part.
There is nothing in the cosmos that is isolated from man’s being.
Dooyeweerd’s
move toward a formalization of the Transcendental Critique.
Dooyeweerd
attempted to find the relevancy of his Calvinistic world and life view toward
the science of statecraft. You
cannot simply lift theoretical concepts directly from the scriptures. Dooyeweerd had the idea that theory has
its own identity and structure over against naïve experience. All theory has to be conformable toward
God’s word at its root. You have
to spiral down into your field to find the religious foundation (the
theoretical foundation of your field).
Getting down to the presuppositions.
One can see
how the transcendental thrust is already there. Given your theorizing, you cannot reduce it to something
else, there is already this transcendental reflection on what is already at
work in it.
Dooyeweerd
held that all developments of theoretical concepts by an idea of law, therefore
he gave his philosophy the name the philosophy of law-idea (Wijsbegeerte der
Wetsidee or WdW).
The law
idea was regarded by Dooyeweerd as an instrument to relate our (or link) our theoretical
thinking and our worldview commitment.
This law idea is of a law order which given any experience is already
there. That already there idea is
important because you do anything, it is already there and you have to reflect
transcendentally.
This order
of law is meaning. It has no being
of itself but out and to its origin.
There is this reflecting back (Romans 11:36: “For from him and through
him and to him are all things. To
him be glory forever. Amen.”
(ESV)). This law idea reflects
back on God as the origin of meaning and manifests its dependency upon God and
his revelation that centers in Jesus Christ.
The Law is
not conceived of on the set of theoretical axioms from which you could deduce
things or that would be norms or imposed a priori upon experience. Nor are they on the order of
generalities the result of theoretical abstractions. Every theoretical axiom, each one must be understood as
revealing this law order. This
order is not that of a theory based on logical or logos world order.
The
original form the transcendental critique.
No
conception of any theory is neutral.
It is impelled by an idea of cosmic coherence and the origin of
meaning. This idea is not one
derived from theoretical thought it is of religious origin and will determine
the direction of the thought.
Therefore given any theoretical conceptualization it is necessary to
reflect upon the idea impelling it and on the religious content of the idea.
