Lydia Jaeger and Herman Dooyeweerd: dialogues on the foundations of Christian scholarship

This article introduces and discusses Lydia Jaeger’s dialogue with and critical evaluation of a few aspects of Dooyeweerd’s philosophy. From her critical realist position, Jaeger evaluates Dooyeweerd’s rejection of the ‘Logos-speculation’ and his definitions of truth. As hedeviates from the Christian epistemological tradition referring to the ‘correspondence between thought and reality’, Jaeger argues that he fails to connect subject and object sufficiently. I arguethat in Dooyeweerd’s ontology subject and object are thoroughly interwoven by the law-order.I also question Jaeger’s critique that, in his epistemology, Dooyeweerd doesn’t make sufficient use of biblical resources and is too inclined towards idealism. I suggest that Jaeger’s contentions could be re-considered and that a more positive approach to reformational philosophy may open new avenues for her own research.This article introduces and discusses Lydia Jaeger’s dialogue with and critical evaluation of a few aspects of Dooyeweerd’s philosophy. From her critical realist position, Jaeger evaluates Dooyeweerd’s rejection of the ‘Logos-speculation’ and his definitions of truth. As hedeviates from the Christian epistemological tradition referring to the ‘correspondence between thought and reality’, Jaeger argues that he fails to connect subject and object sufficiently. I arguethat in Dooyeweerd’s ontology subject and object are thoroughly interwoven by the law-order.I also question Jaeger’s critique that, in his epistemology, Dooyeweerd doesn’t make sufficient use of biblical resources and is too inclined towards idealism. I suggest that Jaeger’s contentions could be re-considered and that a more positive approach to reformational philosophy may open new avenues for her own research.https://doi.org/10.19108/KOERS.80.2.222

Traces of neo-Calvinism in France and Italy

This article deals with the history of the neo-Calvinist movement in France and Italy. The efforts of the Dutch Reformational movement to communicate with French (mainly reformed) Christians are highlighted. A brief overview of the achievements of the few French scholars involved in this development is sketched and their publications are mentioned, together with a few conferences and organisations. Neo-Calvinism reached Italy as well, via the input of French lecturers and publications. The few developments of neo-Calvinism in Italy are recorded as well. Also, the gradual drift towards vantilian and reconstructionist positions (in both countries) is detected and discussed. An evaluation of these developments is provided, together with a few final considerations and questions which should help learning lessons from the past and preparing better strategies for the future

The re-appreciation of the humanities in contemporary philosophy of science: From recognition to exaggeration?

In the course of the centuries, the ‘reputation’ and status attributed to the humanities underwent different phases. One of their lowest moments can be traced during the positivist period. This article explored the reasons underlying the gradual re-evaluation of the scientific status and relevance of the humanities in the philosophy of science of the 20th century. On the basis of a historical analysis it was argued that on the one hand such recognition is positive because it abolishes an unjustified prejudice that restricted the status of ‘science’ to the natural sciences. On the other hand it was argued that the reasons behind such recognition might not always be sound and may be inspired by (and lead to) a certain relativism harbouring undesired consequences. In the final part of this article (dedicated to Prof. J.J. [Ponti] Venter) a brief ‘postscript’ sketched his evaluation of the role of philosophy

Two-Kingdom Worldviews: Attempting a Translation

The author provides a “translation” of several two-kingdom motifs into the biblical “language” of creation, fall, and redemption

Preface to festschrift dedicated to Prof J.J. Venter

No abstract available

The shift to the subject in 20th century philosophy of science: A liberating move?

During the 20th century, the ‘subject’ of knowledge (i.e. the individual scientist or a scientific community) was attributed an increasingly relevant role in (the philosophy of) science. Anchoring scientific knowledge to the subject (rather than to the object, as in early positivism) was proposed as a ‘liberating’ move, leading to a less authoritarian and rationalistic view of science. This article provides a reformational point of view on the topic. A historical documentation of the shift to the subject is provided by visiting the philosophies of Popper, Kuhn, Collins and others. It is argued that the promise of a more libertarian or emancipating conception of science was challenged by several problems. In particular, the conflict between an individual and a communal understanding of the subject is highlighted. Furthermore, it is argued that the roots of the phenomenon in most cases remain hidden. An interpretation of the shift and the sketch of an alternative approach conclude the article

A Motif-based Approach for Identifying Controversy

Among the topics discussed in Social Media, some lead to controversy. A number of recent studies have focused on the problem of identifying controversy in social media mostly based on the analysis of textual content or rely on global network structure. Such approaches have strong limitations due to the difficulty of understanding natural language, and of investigating the global network structure. In this work we show that it is possible to detect controversy in social media by exploiting network motifs, i.e., local patterns of user interaction. The proposed approach allows for a language-independent and fine- grained and efficient-to-compute analysis of user discussions and their evolution over time. The supervised model exploiting motif patterns can achieve 85% accuracy, with an improvement of 7% compared to baseline structural, propagation-based and temporal network features

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Strategic and Operational Decision Making

openEffective decision making lies at the core of organizational success. In the era of digital transformation, businesses are increasingly adopting data-driven approaches to gain a competitive advantage. According to existing literature, Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents a significant advancement in this area, with the ability to analyze large volumes of data, identify patterns, make accurate predictions, and provide decision support to organizations. This study aims to explore the impact of AI technologies on different levels of organizational decision making. By separating these decisions into strategic and operational according to their properties, the study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the feasibility, current adoption rates, and barriers hindering AI implementation in organizational decision making

Presuppositions and the challenge to objectivity in late-modern philosophy of science: causes and possible remedies

The history of late-modern philosophy of science introduces us to a growing emphasis on presuppositions accompanied by a growing relativistic attitude concerning the possibility of scientific objectivity. Aspects of the latter historical developments are traced in some of the most important philosophers of science of the 20th century. An analysis of the possible causes of the phenomenon is also provided. The predominance of the freedom- pole of the humanist ground motive requires a conception of science in which the creative presuppositions of the knowing agent play an increasingly crucial role. Two “remedies” for a more balanced understanding of the role of presuppositions are indicated. The first one has to do with the recognition of a broad variety of ideological standpoints, stemming from different religious commitments. The second one recommends the recognition of the universal order for reality, which implies two consequences. First, our presuppositions do not have the power of determining our scientific observations of reality completely. Second, scientific research does not proceed only according to our presuppositional frameworks but follows a structural order. A few reflections on the nature of scientific objectivity conclude the article

Christian attitudes in scholarship: The role of worldviews

This article starts from the realisation that a few different approaches to science and scholarship are implemented within different Christian traditions. In an attempt at identifying the reasons behind such differences, it is argued that the approach to science and scholarship adopted in each Christian tradition corresponds to a considerable extent to the worldview accepted in that tradition. In this article, several versions of the main Christian worldviews are identified and related to the work of authors (e.g. Murphy, the Theonomic movement, Barbour, Van Huyssteen, Wolterstorff) who were not discussed in previous works on this topic. The possibility of ‘mixing’ the worldviews (thus adopting an eclectic approach) is also discussed. The proposed taxonomy may be used to understand at a deeper level both individual authors and trends, and also to sketch a ‘map’ of the different movements, contributors and available options. It is argued that the different worldviews are not equally valuable and that the reformational worldview should be regarded as more integrally and originally biblical. The article ends with a call to consistency for the sake of sound Christian scholarship