Reformational Movement:
Documentary Series

Number 2:
Runner's Introduction
to Philosophy

First Installment

The Nature of Knowledge:

Man's Religious Need:

Man is not self-sufficient. He needs someone or something greater than himself in which to place his trust. The Christian may cast himself upon Jehovah, his Covenant God. The unbeliever, feeling the same need, creates absolutes for himself.

Objectivity:

Aristotle:

Positivism:

The Nature of Philosophy:

Positivism:

Positivism claims that mind studies the world of matter and reads feeling into it while actual matter is totally impersonal. The special scientist tries to extract or abstract the world of matter and make it separate [from] mind and feeling. He tries to take one type of activity from the whole and consider it in isolation.

Cartesianism:

Philosophical Foundations of Medicine:

The Relationship Between Philosophy and the Special Sciences:

A Christian psychiatry needs a Christian anthropology. A non-Christian psychiatrist or therapist, since he does not know man or understand him, may do a great deal of harm.

Biology:

The three main schools of thought in biology are: i) mechanism, ii) vitalism, iii) holism. Some biologists attempt to understand vital functions in terms of physical functions and speak of the former in terms of the latter. This is mechanism. Vitalism, on the other hand, attempts to explain physical functions in terms of vital functions. Holism is a school of thought founded by Premier Smuts of South Africa.

Because philosophy is fundamental to all sciences, there are different schools of thought in biology. Vitalism and mechanism are simplistic deductions. All such "ism" words point to theoretic exaggerations and distortions of the creation order. Both mechanism and vitalism are theories about the inter-relatedness of the thing. The question is whether the raising of one aspect [reveals] the true nature of the thing. Vitalists see mechanists absolutize the physical and so stress the vital to counteract this. Mechanists do the opposite in return. In order to escape this dialectical swing, we must take our own perspective.

A Perspective in Philosophy:

The course should actually be called Perspective in Philosophy. [TP in 2005: The title of the course was Perspectives in Philosophy: Runner was objecting to the plural. Presumably the course title was not of his own choosing.] The course is more than a series of studies on philosophy. There must be room left for the development of a Christian philosophy. It is not possible to be a mere unattached observer in the history of philosophy.

Philosophy has two aspects: systematic philosophy ("systematics") and historical philosophy ("historical"). Neither can be treated in isolation. No one can philosophize without building on previous philosophies. No one can study the history of philosophy without a knowledge of "systematica." Philosophy is an attempt to think systematically about the creation of God as a whole.

Lecture # 4, September 31, 1964

God's Law and Man's Situation:

Man is a religious being. He is created in a religious situation. He is a creature structurally made to commune with God. This communion has been broken by the fall into sin. Man, the covenant-breaker, no longer acknowledges what he is. Man's inescapable condition is that he is a creature and thus is not self-sufficient. He needs the assurance of God's favor, though he may not know it. He needed the assurance even before the fall. Man oriented himself to the creation through his relationship to and communion with God. Geerhardus Vos has shown us that there was a pre-redemptive special revelation.

God did not leave man alone in the creation after the fall. With His Law and Providence, He upheld it. Unbelieving man, like Plato, may have a "sensus dietatis," a feeling of God, or a "sensus legis," a feeling of the Law. God's will is His Law. In this Law, He sets limits for the creation. Everyone and everything is under this Law. That man is limited and controlled in what he does is well illustrated by political revolutions. Due to the confining influence of the Law, they lose their initial push and radicality.

Man's Need for Order:

History gives us a deeper understanding of our human situation. Man needs visible signs of order. When he came to feel that there was no order in God's Providence -- if indeed there was a god -- and that there was no real order in nature, he decided to manufacture his own order. Fascism, communism and the other 20th century ideologies are examples of man's manufactured order. This type of attempt is the inevitable result of nihilism.

As well as needing visible signs of order, man needs absolutes. This really is his religious need rising out of the creation and fall situation. Nothing in the creation is absolute but the covenant and Word of God. Obedience to the covenant is the only firm ground for surety in human life. Apostate cults have devised practices to fulfil man's inmost religious need for absolutes. The planned state that controlled man's entire life was another attempt to fulfill man's need for absolutes. Other absolutes that have been advanced are: i) absolute monarchs, ii) sexual pleasure, iii) the accumulation of money, iv) fame, v) physical strength, vi) philosophy.

Lecture # 5, October 5, 1964

Pragmatism:

William James was one of the founders of the pragmatic school of philosophy. Pragmatism sees thinking as an instrument of doing. Thought cannot be separated from action. Thought should not be abstracted from and precede action but rather be a directing part of action.

Revelation:

Matthew 11:25 tells us about revelation. The Father knows the Son and the Son knows the Father by inter-trinitarian knowledge. The Son reveals His knowledge of the Father. Revelation always means to bring down to the creaturely level. Christ in His Incarnation is Revelation. Revelation means that God has taken on human form. Thus, we know God only as He has revealed Himself to us. God has used human language to reveal Himself to us in the Scriptures. Thus, he guarantees the adequacy of the language. The Word is Jesus Christ. The Covenant, the Kingdom and the Scriptures are Jesus Christ.

There are many different types or levels of thought. Examples are the thought of God, man, animals, and plants. Revelation of any kind of must be lowered to the level of the creature being revealed to. Philosophy is not an absolute; it is a human activity. Philosophy must be the service of God.

Lecture # 6, October 8, 1964

Scientific and Pre-scientific Knowledge:

Knowledge can be distinguished as scientific or pre-scientific. This difference is commonly denied. Pre-scientific knowledge precedes scientific knowledge. It is by nature and structure different than scientific thought. It has been said that knowledge is methodical. Science is confused with method. The validity of the existence of pre-scientific thought is commonly denied.

Scientific and Pre-scientific Knowledge:

Pre-scientific and scientific knowledge differ in structure. It is not the case that one is an extension of the other. Pre-scientific knowledge precedes scientific knowledge. Pre-scientific knowledge looks at the whole of the thing. Scientific knowledge abstracts the various aspects. In humanistic schools of philosophy, pre-scientific knowledge is considered as being of no real value. The only legitimate knowledge is scientific knowledge.

Bultmann's View of Revelation:

The German theologian Rudolf Bultmann demythologizes Scripture. There is something in the Bible that he regards as revelation. It is wrapped up in pre-scientific ways of speaking. This wrapping must be stripped away in order to get at the truth. It is true that the manner of writing in the Bible is primarily pre-scientific. Bultmann does not believe in pre-scientific knowledge. He believes that even revelation must be analyzed scientifically. Thus, he is faced with the problem of distinguishing between scientific and pre-scientific knowledge in the Bible. His solution is to demythologize.

Almost the whole of man's life goes on in the realm of the pre-scientific. This is how God created man. This is how God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. Scientific knowledge must be secondary. It is used to help man control and subdue the earth and so fulfil the cultural mandate.

The Modal Scale:

There are many different aspects that can be abstracted from the life of man. An open list of fifteen has been devised by Herman Dooyeweerd:

The Modal Scale:

Every creature functions in many different ways. The modal scale distinguishes fifteen. Function is to be distinguished from act. The modalities may be spoken of as fifteen "apriories." Certain basic terms like "aesthetic" cannot be defined. "Ontic apriories" mean the "apriories" of all related to being. The order of the modalities may not be changed.

The Numerical Modality:

The numerical modality means number. The symbolism is of no real importance. Twoness is quite apart; it is an idea.

The Spatial Modality:

The spatial modality presupposes the numerical. Numerical is ascribed to quantity. Discrete means discontinuous. Spatial is continuous extension.

The Physical Modality:

The physical modality involves motion. Modern physicists believe that motion, rather than rest, is characteristic of the physical. Rest is a form of motion. The physical aspect of something is motion. Motion presupposes spatiality a numerality.

The Organic Modality:

The organic modality involves vital functions. The organs have a physical basis. The organic again depends on the numerical, spatial and physical functions.

Ontology and Epistemology:

Ontology and epistemology are the two main branches of philosophical investigation. Ontology means theoretical thinking about being. Epistemology is theoretical thought about knowledge. Ontology discusses questions about reality as well as such theories as materialism, idealism, dualism, monism, and pluralism. Epistemology attempts to answer the question of how we come by our knowledge. Ontology is not reality; it is theory about reality. Adjectives containing "logi" are not reality in themselves but represent theory about reality.

The Psychical Modality:

After organic life on the modal scale comes psychical life, response to sense impressions and perceptions. The psychical presupposes the organic since perception is dependent upon organs.

The Analytical Modality:

The analytical or logical modality is the conceptual distinguishing of difference. Distinguishing is taking note of difference.

The Historial Modality:

The historial [TP in 2005: This is not a typo -- Runner used "historial" rather than "historical."] or technical modality involves cultural formation. The three main factors connected with cultural formation are: i) material given, ii) form given to the material, iii) to meet the need of man. Thus, cultural formation is historial and technical.

The Lingual Modality:

The lingual or symbolical modality means communication by means of symbols. Spoken language is primary; written language is secondary. Men communicate by conventional symbols. Conventional symbols involves cultural formation. The lingual modality in this way presupposes the historial modality. Language is a giving of form to represent things. Even the making of hand and face signals involves cultural formation.

Legal Positivism:

Legal positivism is that theory of law that states that the only real law or sense of right is a law enacted by man and put into force. Law-making is codifying the wishes of the community. Roscoe Pound was a leading American exponent of this theory. The Principle of Equity and law is that "lex," the enacted law, must serve "jus," the sense of right and wrong. The originally intended right must overrule the enacted law. "Lex" must constantly be revised to maintain the spirit of "jus."

The Social Modality:

There is a social order or structure among men. Social structure presupposes the symbolic aspect as it is symbolic in itself. Social means the arrangement of people in society. It involves linguality but it is more than linguality.

The Economic Modality:

Economic functioning depends on social structure. Economic means the conservation of scarce goods.

The Aesthetic Modality:

The aesthetic means beautiful harmony. Nothing aesthetic is possible without the economic function of conservation.

The Jural Modality:

The jural aspect presupposes the aesthetic because jural life is a harmonizing of interests.

The Ethical Modality:

The ethical aspect means the loving faithfulness of man to man.

The Modal Scale:

The modal scale is an ascending order of complexities. Each one has a nuclear moment of meaning which is also contained in others up the scale. The irreversible order is also an indissoluble coherence of meaning which points to a deeper underlying wholeness of meaning. None of the modalities exist independently. In all, there is one cosmic meaning. The creation is integral.

Each modality has law in its own sphere. There is a norm for each. The mind-matter scheme of Galileo overrates the subjective in the subject-object relationship. Subjectively, a substance like water may and does rise to the physical aspect but when treated as object it may go higher. Everything has both subject and object functions. A thing like water can function objectively on any level but the numerical.

Lecture # 11, October 27, 1964

The Modal Scale:

Three things that should be noted concerning the modal scale are: i) It is an irreversible order of time. ii) It forms an indissoluble coherence of meaning in a) subject-object functions, b) anticipatory and retrocipatory moments of meaning. iii) It points to some deeper underlying wholeness of meaning.

Galileo and Subjectivism:

Galileo divided the world into mind and matter. Mind is subjective and internal. Matter is objective and external. Thought and feeling belong to mind. How we know the physical world was not explained by Galileo. He said that mind and matter function independently. Mind reads meaning and feeling into matter.

Subjectivism has been dominant in philosophy since the 16th century. Subjectivism is an attempt to explain the world purely in terms of subject functions. Galileo reduces everything to material subjectivity.

The functional world has a subjective and an objective side. On each modal level, there are subject, as well as object, functions with the exception of the numerical modality. And objectivist turns the objective into the law for any particular sphere.

Lecture # 12, October 29, 1964

Thomas Aquinas:

Many Christians today think and talk in Thomist thought patterns. Thomas Aquinas divided everything into the realms of nature and supernature (grace). Nature he divided into form and matter, following the lead of Aristotle. He saw man as made up of material body and rational soul. Aquinas did add the realm of supernature which he claimed Aristotle did know about because he was an unbeliever. This 13th century philosophical movement was revived as neo-Thomism in the 19th century by Etienne Gilson and Jacques Maritain. In 1879, Pope Leo XIII officially advocated the study of philosophy in the spirit of Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas said that reason

The term "mathematical" stands for the numerical and spatial modalities combined. An object like a nest must be described psychically because its object function is related to the psychical life of a bird. A material like metal can function in a great many ways as an object. Words ending in able and ible refer to object functions. On every modal level but the numerical there are subject functions and object functions. A concrete thing exists on every modal level. A physical thing like a rock has three subject functions and fourteen object functions. An organic thing like a plant has five subject functions and fourteen object functions. An animal has six subject functions and fourteen object functions. Man has fifteen subject functions and fourteen object functions. Object functions are dependent on subject functions.

Lecture # 13, November 3, 1964.

Subject and Object Functions:

The creatures of God are related through subject and object functions. The creatures are made for each other. For a great part, the development of human culture has been the development of object functions of things. Subject-object functions form a great part of the indissoluble order of time of the modal scale. An object function requires another individuality structure besides that which functions as subject. In medieval philosophy, object functions were called "qualitates." Subject functions were called "proprietas." The words "quality" and "property" are derived from these Latin terms. "Qualitates" depends on another individuality structure for existence. Property exists of itself. Galileo (1564-1642) and the school of philosophers following him saw only qualities. They called them subject functions. They saw no subject-object relations; in fact, they could not see that object functions exist. They saw mind as reading property into matter.

Kant's View of Apriories:

When Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) spoke of "apriories," he meant that man started his system of thought with epistemological "apriories" and went on from there. The adherents of Dooyeweerd begin instead with ontic "apriories."

There are at least fifteen law spheres in which laws, irreducible to any others, are operative. Each law sphere but the first, the numerical, is made up of subject and object functions and a law for the function in the sphere. Sphere sovereignty means irreducibility.

Lecture # 14, November 10, 1964.

Sphere Sovereignty:

Sphere sovereignty means that no modality can be reduced to any other. Each modality is a law sphere in itself. Each law sphere has its own law for subject and object functions.

Sphere Universality:

All creatures are related to all other creatures on all levels. The modalities are universal as well as sovereign since every creature functions at every level either as subject or as object or both.

Anticipatory and Retrocipatory Moments:

Every modality occurs in every other modality in anticipatory and retrocipatory moments. Everything has aspects. Within these aspects are anticipations and retrocipations. At the center of the aspect is the core moment. The core moment guarantees irreducibility of the sphere. Retrocipatory moments are reflections of the lower modalities. Anticipatory moments look ahead to the higher modalities. The core moment guarantees that anticipations and retrocipations are of a particular modality like the aesthetic. Retrocipations are lower on the modal scale than anticipations. Although anticipations are incomplete they can be realized to a greater extent.

Lecture # 15, November 12, 1964

The Modal Scale:

Retrocipatory moments are reflections in the sense of the core moments of the earlier aspects. Anticipatory moments are reflections in the sense of the core moments of the later aspects. Each modality is present in the analogical sense in some other modality. Each modality is present in every other modality in anticipations or retrocipations. No one modality is the source of any other, much less, the source of all.

The whole cosmic meaning or purpose is present in every modality. Each modality presents the meaning from a different point of view. The mobile scale points to a deeper underlying wholeness of meaning. Philosophy is limited in that it cannot discover that meaning. It cannot explain this underlying meaning. Analysis can suggest the unity of meaning but it cannot tell us what that unity is

Rationalists claim the analytical or logical function as the source of all functioning. The communist ideologists postulate that the social and economic functions are man's basic functions. The psychoanalytical school of psychology claims that reason is a surface function in man. The deepest function is man's animal drive or lust inherited from his simian background. They make man's psychical life all-important. This school masks its theory in rationality.