Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Concept of Worldview in the Natural and Social Sciences

Here are a few titles of books about how the concept of worldview has been incorporated into both the physical sciences and the social sciences. It is worth noting that the physical sciences have paid less attention to the perspectival nature of knowledge than have the social sciences, philosophy and the other humanities.

The most important book, really for both the social and natural sciences: Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

Also, Michael Polyani, Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-critical Philosophy.

For the social sciences, Jurgen Habermas, Knowledge and Human Interests.

Also, Paul A. Marshall, Sander Griffioen, and Richard J. Mouw, eds., Stained Glass: Worldviews and Social Science.

Freud wrote about worldview (weltanschaaung), as did Jung. In sociology, Karl Mannheim explored the topic; Berger and Luckmann have already been mentioned. Marx and Engels wrote on the interface between worldview and ideology.

In anthropology, Robert Redfield contrasts what he calls the "primitive" and "modern" worldviews.

Just one more quotation from Naugle, in regard to worldview and ideology as analyzed by Marxists: "Marx and Engels identified dialectical materialism as the true scientific Weltanschauung, and pointed out the role of ideology in class warfare and cultural combat. . . . Christian thinkers must recognize the total implications of the biblical vision under the all-encompassing sovereignty of God. Christianity is more than a church polity, theological system, or pietistic program, but is in fact a view of the entire cosmos with something significant to say about everything" (251).

No comments:

Post a Comment