PHL 228: Reformational Philosophy

This work is a study of Reformed philosophy at the time of its emergence in the Netherlands in the 1920s, as founded by Dirk Vollenhoven and Herman Dooyeweerd. Vollenhoven provided the framework for critical discussion of influential neo-Kantian themes within their intellectual milieu and of protestant scholasticism within the tradition of the Reformation. The Reformed philosophy that took shape is usually attributed to Dooyeweerd. But Vollenhoven's role calls for more open recognition. Not only did he maintain a distinct position on important issues, his initial framework also influenced the subsequent understanding of Reformed philosophy.

This volume... has emerged from a small scholarly conference... on the relationship between Christianity and Greco-Roman civilization, above all, that civilization's characteristic patterns of philosophical thought... The field of investigation [is] the neo-Calvinist current within Dutch protestantism and the elaboration in the 1920s and 1930s of 'Calvinistic' philosophy as one of its most distinctive effects... this 'parish tale' has more to recommend it than might appear at first blush. For there is a good argument to be made why such a thoroughly local study can benefit a much broader segment of contemporary Protestantism.

Brill gives a concise overview of the Dutch philosopher Dirk Vollenhoven's problem-historical method and its influence on Reformational philosophy. Bril first highlights changing historical periods, including the internalizing or subjectivizing of the norms lying outside of, or behind, the cosmos. Part Two reviews four models of historiography, namely those of Jan Hendrik van den Berg, Michel Foucault, Thomas Kuhn, and Vollenhoven.

The contributors to this collection wish to dedicate their essays to Professor Vollenhoven on the occasion of his eightieth birthday. Working with Professor Vollenhoven, whether as colleague, student or assistent, has for many become the occasion for a lasting and significant personal relationship. A believer of profound and simple piety, a gentleman to all who cross his path, a disciplined as well as rewardingly imaginative thinker, Vollenhoven is the kind of man who has made a difference for the better in the lives of many. The contributors here offer a small token of their gratitude for what he has come to mean to them.

How to portray the history of philosophy: exploring historiographical problems and methodologies -- A Scripturally oriented perspective on the history of Western intellectual thinking : the origins, contours of and questions about the consistent problem-historical method -- Flying on the wings of Vollenhoven's radical Christian worldview: a reconsideration of current typologies of Christian worldviews -- The concept "woman": a feminist historiography of the relation between male and female -- The implications of a consistent problem-historical method of philosophical historiography for gender differences and relationships.

Chapter 1: The uniqueness of John Calvin's (1509-1564) Philosophia Christiana -- Chapter 2: The Christian philosophy of D.H. Th. Vollenhoven (1892-1978) -- Chapter 3: The Christian philosopher, H.G. Stoker (1899-1993) -- Chapter 4: The Christian philosophy of H. Dooyeweerd (1894-1977).