Reformational philosophy

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (December 2013)

Reformational philosophy of society is a

Both men had already been cooperating in the development of a uniquely Christian philosophy and their labours began to see considerable fruit over the next ten years. The mid-1930s saw a series of significant publications culminating in Dooyeweerd's magnum opus De Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee (The Philosophy of the Cosmonomic Idea) in three volumes. At this time Vollenhoven organised the Association for Calvinistic Philosophy which he served as president until his retirement in 1963, by then an international organisation with over 500 members. Dooyeweerd became the first editor of the Association's academic journal Philosophia Reformata.

After the

In the 1950s and 1960s, mainly through the influence of Vollenhoven's American student H. Evan Runner, many North Americans with Dutch roots came to study under these Calvinistic philosophers increasing the influence of this new philosophy. Dooyeweerd also revised his earlier work for English publication under the title A New Critique of Theoretical Thought. As a consequence Dooyeweerd has received greatest exposure outside of the Netherlands.

Although Calvinistic in roots reformational philosophy has always been ecumenical in outlook. Dooyeweerd later rejected the term “Calvinistic” wishing his philosophy to be seen as "Reformational-Ecumenical" Christian. On the 50th anniversary of the Association Jacob Klapwijk summarized some of the central themes of reformational philosophy and looked forward to its continuing contributions. This important article was titled “Reformational Philosophy on the Boundary Between the Past and the Future.” In 1995 the Association for Calvinistic Philosophy became the Association for Reformational Philosophy, while its supporting foundation became the Foundation for Christian Philosophy (Stichting voor Christelijke Filosofie, with the new Dutch spelling).

The different generations

Jan-Willem Dijkshoorn

• Lambert Zuidervaart (Senior Member of systematic philosophy at ICS)
• Ronald A. Kuipers (Senior Member of Philosophy of Religion at ICS)
• Doug Blomberg (who consulted with Dooyeweerd in regard to his dissertation in philosophy of education, written for an Australian university and is now Senior Member of Philosophy of Education at ICS)

Further graduates include:

• Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin (VU graduate, former ICS student, former Senior Member in Philosophical Aesthetics at ICS, now speaking and writing in England where her husband has taken a key post)
• Jonathan Chaplin (ICS student, London School of Economics in political science, former professor ICS political theory, now Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics at Tyndale House, Cambridge, UK.)
• James K. A. Smith (M.Phil. F. at ICS, PhD at Villanova under John D. Caputo). Smith has found a place for himself at the interface of Reformational Philosophy, Deconstruction, and Radical orthodoxy.

Many other names among the generations could be included, for instance, among those who taught at ICS, Redeemer University College, and College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State University, NJ), and .

• Dr Albert Wolters, studied under Runner, then Vollenhoven, taught at ICS, taught at Redeemer University College (Ontario), now retired, presently Research Fellow at the new Paideia Centre for Public Theology (Ancaster, Ontario).
• Dr Roy A. Clouser, now retired, has done much to popularise Reformational philosophy with his The Myth of Religious Neutrality (1st edn 1991; revd edn 2005).
• Recently Danie Strauss published an extensive investigation of the relationship between philosophy and the special sciences: Philosophy: Discipline of the Disciplines (715 pages), Grand Rapids: Paideia Press, 2009.

Main claims

There are two main claims that characterise reformational philosophy.

Religious roots of philosophical thought

Reformational philosophy rejects the view that

• Clouser, Roy The Myth of Religious Neutrality (University of Notre Dame Press, 1991)
• Dooyeweerd, Herman A New Critique of Theoretical Thought (Edwin Mellen, 1997)
• Kalsbeek. L Contours of a Christian Philosophy (Wedge Publishing, 1975)
• Tol, Antony “In memoriam: Dirk Hendrik Theodoor Vollenhoven” Philosophia Reformata 43 (3–4) 1978 pp. 93–100
• Zylstra, Bernard “Introduction” in Contours of a Christian Philosophy (Wedge Publishing, 1975) pp. 14–33

Notes

External links

• The Reformational Publishing Project
• All Of Life Redeemed
• Dialogue and Antithesis