Dr. J. Glenn Friesen

Studies relating to Herman Dooyeweerd Linked Glossary of Terms

© J. Glenn Friesen 2003-2005

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.)

Dooyeweerd sometimes speaks of the natural sides of reality as opposed to the normative sides.

For example, in Encyclopedia of Legal Sciences (1946), he says,

For full temporal reality, which I experience in everyday life, is given to me as an inseparable coherence of all meaning-sides, both of the natural-sides (the mathematical, mechanical, biotic and psychical), as well as from the spiritual sides (the logical, historical, linguistic, social, economic, aesthetic, juridical, moral and faith sides). (p. 9)

The so-called 'values philosophy' concentrates on the normative aspects, and allows the pre-normative sides of reality to shrivel up into a mere object of consciousness (I, 74).

Dooyeweerd wanted to unite these "natural" and "spiritual" or normative sides of reality (I, vi). A similar goal is found in Baader's Christian philosophy.

When he speaks of our 'nature,' Dooyeweerd sometimes has in mind our full temporal reality, the entire body or mantle of functions. Our 'nature' is that in which our central selfhood expresses itself.

Baader says that even God has a nature in which He expresses Himself within the Trinity.

Revised Dec 20/05