Religion, Truth, and Social Transformation: Essays in Reformational Philosophy

by Lambert Zuidervaart

Overview

Reformational philosophy rests on the ideas of nineteenth-century educator, church leader, and politician Abraham Kuyper, and it emerged in the early twentieth century among Reformed Protestant thinkers in the Netherlands. Combining comprehensive criticisms of Western philosophy with robust proposals for a just society, it calls on members of religious communities to transform harmful cultural practices, social institutions, and societal structures. Well known for his work in aesthetics and critical theory, Lambert Zuidervaart is a leading figure in contemporary reformational philosophy. In Religion, Truth, and Social Transformation – the first of two volumes of original essays from the past thirty years – he forges new interpretations of art, politics, rationality, religion, science, and truth. In dialogue with modern and contemporary philosophers, among them Immanuel Kant, G.F.H Hegel, Martin Heidegger, Theodor Adorno, Jürgen Habermas, and reformational thinkers such as Herman Dooyeweerd, Dirk Vollenhoven, and Hendrik Hart, Zuidervaart explains and expands on reformational philosophy’s central themes. This interdisciplinary collection offers a normative critique of societal evil, a holistic and pluralist conception of truth, and a call for both religion and science to serve the common good. Illustrating the connections between philosophy, religion, and culture, and daring to think outside the box, Religion, Truth, and Social Transformation gives a voice to hope in a climate of despair.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780773598928
Publisher:	McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date:	04/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Lambert Zuidervaart is professor of philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies and the University of Toronto and co-editor of Truth Matters: Knowledge, Politics, Ethics, Religion.
Lambert Zuidervaart is professor emeritus of philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies and the University of Toronto and coeditor of Truth Matters: Knowledge, Politics, Ethics, Religion.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Note about Citations and Revisions xiii

Introduction: Transforming Philosophy 3

Part 1 Critical Retrieval 23

1 The Great Turning Point: Religion and Rationality in Dooyeweerd's Transcendental Critique (2004) 26

2 Reformational Philosophy after Dooyeweerd and Vollenhoven (2006) 48

3 Dooyeweerd's Conception of Truth: Exposition and Critique (2008) 54

4 Dooyeweerd's Modal Theory: Questions in the Ontology of Science (1973) 77

5 Fantastic Things: Critical Notes toward a Social Ontology of the Arts (1995) no

Part 2 Reforming Reason 129

6 God, Law, and Cosmos: Issues in Hendrik Hart's Ontology (1985) 133

7 Artistic Truth, Linguistically Turned: Variations on a Theme from Adorno, Habermas, and Hart (2001) 156

8 The Inner Reformation of Reason: Issues in Hendrik Hart's Epistemology (2004) 176

9 Metacritique: Adorno, Vollenhoven, and the Problem-Historical Method (1985) 183

10 Defining Humankind: Scheler, Cassirer, and Hart (1988) 205

Part 3 Social Transformation 219

11 Good Cities or Cities of the Good? Radical Augustiman Social Criticism (2005) 222

12 Religion in Public: Passages from Hegel's Philosophy of Right (2010) 237

13 Macrostructures and Societal Principles: An Architectonic Critique (2011/2015) 252

14 Unfinished Business: Toward a Reformational Conception of Truth (2009) 277

15 Science, Society, and Culture: Against Deflationism (2007) 298

Epilogue: Earth's Lament: Suffering, Hope, and Wisdom (2003) 317

Publication Information 325

Notes 329

Works Cited 389

Index 407

Editorial Reviews

In Religion, Truth, and Social Transformation, Lambert Zuidervaart offers fresh and original insights, confirming that he is among the most rigorous and imaginative contributors to reformational philosophy writing today. Demonstrating a highly creative,

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