Dr. J. Glenn Friesen

Studies relating to Herman Dooyeweerd Linked Glossary of Terms

 

© J. Glenn Friesen 2003, 2004

Linked Glossary of Terms
(references to De Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee, unless indicated. See concordance for correlation with pages in the New Critique. The concordance is in pdf format.)

The moral is one of the temporal aspects. It is one of the normative, as opposed to the natural aspects. The moral law is thus one temporal expression of the central law of love.

Moralism is the elevation or absolutization of the moral to the governing viewpoint in which to see all of reality.

In the opening process, morality is also deepened. I believe that both Dooyeweerd and Baader include in this deepened morality the following two Ideas:

1. Going beyond our limited ego to the fullness of our selfhood. Dooyeweerd speaks of our having fallen away from our true selfhood in the fall (I, vi, 31).

Baader speaks of losing oneself to find oneself (Fermenta p. 96). He also says that God elevates himself in the self to divinity as soon as the self ceases to elevate itself to egotism (Fermenta p. 194, V, 23).

2. Loving other egos because of our recognition that we are one in our religious root. Dooyeweerd says that the religious command of love understands the neighbour as a member of the radical religious community of mankind. We are one in root. (NC I, 60; this passage is not in the WdW).

Baader speaks of being "one with you" (Fermenta, p. 95).

This Idea of loving the other because the other person is one in the root, is similar to the tat tvam asi ethics in neo-Hinduism.

3. Seeing God in everything

Baader says,

"…hat Malebranche recht, zu behaupten, daß wir Alles in Gott sehen, nämlich in jenem göttlichen oder himmlischen Auge, dessen der Mensch durch den Fall zwar verlustig wurde, das sich ihm aber wider öffnete." (Lichtstrahlen 106)

[Malebranche was correct to maintain, that we see everything in God, that is in that divine or heavenly eye, of which Man was deprived in the Fall, but which is now opened to him again].

Baader refers to the experiences of the Silberblick in which we experience these heavenly moments.

I believe that Dooyeweerd is referring to this same experience of 'Silberblick' when he says,

“In the Biblical attitude of naïve experience the transcendent, religious dimension of its horizon is opened. The light of eternity radiates perspectively through all the temporal dimensions of this horizon and even illuminates seemingly trivial things and events in our sinful world.

In this attitude the experiencing I-ness is necessarily in the I-we relation of the Christian community and in the we-Thou-relation with God, Who has revealed Himself in Christ Jesus.” (NC III, 29)

Note that in this Biblical attitude, we are in the I-we relation. Thus, the time when the light of eternity radiates through the temporal dimensions is also the time when we are in the I-we relation.

Revised Dec 27/04