Dr. J. Glenn Friesen

Studies relating to Herman Dooyeweerd Linked Glossary of Terms

© J. Glenn Friesen 2003-2006

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 distinguishes cosmic consciousness and cosmo-logical self-consciousness. (WdW II, 414). I believe that the distinction has to do with the difference between cosmic consciousness as it exists in naive experience, and cosmic consciousness after we have deepened our experience in theory an d then return to our deepened cosmic consciousness. This is "radical-critical self reflection" (WdW I, 28).

In critical self-reflection, the defining of the meaning of philosophical problems necessarily unveils the philosophic Ground-Idea concerning the totality of meaning and its Origin and the relation of this totality of meaning to the diversity of meaning and its temporal coherence. (WdW I, 40). Truly critical philosophy is transcendental, in looking to how knowledge is possible (WdW I, 11). Critical self-reflection involves "giving an account." (WdW I, 51). We give an account of the insufficiency and restlessness of all particularized meaning (WdW I, 49-51). We do this by directing our attention to the totality of meaning to which the restlessness of particularized meaning refers. Thus we discover the relativity of our theoretical thought, and direct it to the totality of meaning.

Self-criticism in recognizing the relativity and insufficiency of our thought, points to the Origin. It depends on Ideas related to the Origin. Only by the transcendental Idea of temporal consciousness can our selfhood become cosmologically conscious of itself in its intuitive reflection

In this [theoretical] intuition I implicitly relate the intermodal meaning-synthesis to the transcendent identity of the modal functions I experience in the religious root of my existence.
But it is only in a transcendental reflection, led by our transcendental basic Idea, that this implicit relation can be made explicit to theoretical thought. (WdW II, 413; NC II, 479)

From true knowledge of God we get true knowledge of self and of cosmos. Thus self-criticism should involve self-reflection leading to self-knowledge. Only in this way to we get true knowledge of the cosmos. True knowledge of cosmos is bound to true knowledge of self which is bound to true knowledge of God (WdW II, 492 ).

Humanistic self-consciousness gets dispersed in the diversity of meaning without being capable of concentration (NC II, 19).

Revised Aug 21/06