Posts Tagged ‘Week 2’

  • Worldviews

    Date: 2009.09.15 | Category: Study Reflections, Unit SSK12 | Response: 1

    Reflection (Do not use for the Learning Log)
    Unit: SSK12
    Week: 2 (in Week 3)
    Date: 15 September 2009

    Like a few here I am lagging a little, I’ve only just listened to the Week2 lecture given by Julia Hobson (2007) in the last two days. During the second part of the lecture Hobson makes a distinction between her understanding of a worldview and what she refers to as personal belief systems. I don’t completely agree with Hobson’s definition of a worldview in this respect. I find this definition limited. I understand that the university lecturer may need to be careful not to stray too far into spirituality so as not to cross from philosophy into religious education, but my belief (as framed by my worldview) is that these two concepts are inseparable. I believe what Hobson defines as personal belief systems are a fundamental and integral part of one’s worldview.

    As a side note, this is an important illustration of the necessity to contextualise the context or read/listen worldviewishly, for as Sire (2004, 121) says, “the very concept of a worldview is itself worldview dependent.” Each proponent of a given worldview will have their own understanding of what a worldview is. Clearly mine is different to Hobson’s.

    James Sire is one of my favourite authors, author of such books as The Universe Next Door and Naming the Elephant. His definition of a worldview is my favourite, it is concise yet comprehensive, and I doubt I could define it any better. Sire (2004, 122) writes:

    “A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.”

    For me the key to unlocking the concept of worldviews is the word presupposition. The foundation of any worldview is its presuppositions. So believing in a God, believing in many gods or not believing in god at all is fundamental to one’s worldview and by extension, one’s understanding of the self.

    When Nietzsche (1882, 125) writes, “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” This is a massive shift from previously held notions. Even those of a modern thinker such as John Locke who believed in “our ‘Inalienable Rights’, which are ordained by God.” (Osborne, 2007, 89) This is further demonstrated in that the Kamikaze pilot’s sense of self is very different to that of the Secular humanist’s, or that of a Jain, who values all life.

    I think we can say with some confidence that today’s Christian worldview is a modern one, as I’m sure the Western Sunni Muslim worldview or the Reformed Jewish one is. I would go as far to say that many Christians worldwide manifest a syncretism between Christianity and postmodernism. My point is that there is a Modern Christian worldview, as much as there was a Mediæval Christian worldview, which are both distinct from secular modernism and each one will see the world and the concept of self differently through different lenses of understanding.

    In my case, I am not a Christian, but I cannot deny the influence of Christianity on the Western worldview and mine in particular.

    In conclusion, it is my belief that peoples’ belief systems have played a major role in philosophy throughout history, Christianity in particular plays a significant role in the evolution of western philosophy. I know Hobson doesn’t limit the definition of worldviews to Greek, Mediæval, Modern or mechanistic and Postmodern, but I think it is important to point out that there are many worldviews, held by many people and they are multifaceted. I hope I have satisfactorily argued a case for the inseparability of personal belief systems (as defined by Hobson) and one’s worldview.

    References
    Hobson, J. 2007. Lecture: Concepts of the Self. Audio Recording. Murdoch: Murdoch University. 06 August 2007.

    Sire, James W. 2004. Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept. Downers Grove, U.S.A.: InterVarsity Press.

    Nietzsche, F. 1882. “The Madman”, The Gay Science 125, in The Portable Nietzsche, trans. Walter Kaufmann, 1954. New York: Viking. Reprinted in The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog. 4th ed. p. 211. Downers Grove, U.S.A.: InterVarsity Press.

    Osborne, R. 2007. Philosophy: For Beginners. New Delhi: Orient Longman.

  • Modernity

    Date: 2009.09.13 | Category: Glossary, Unit SSK12 | Response: 0

    Glossary (Do not use for learning log)
    Unit: SSK12
    Week: 2
    Date: 13 September 2009

    Word: modernity n.
    Context: Modernity appears in different parts of the unit reader both as a period of societal development and as a framework of understanding the world that surrounds us (i.e. a worldview).
    Definition: Modernity in the context of philosophy is broadly considered to date back to the Enlightenment of 17th and 18th century Europe, and is typically understood to have begun with Descartes (of “I think therefore I am” fame). The main feature of modernity is its emphasis on rationality and as the excerpt from the Conceptual Dictionary in the Unit Reader says, the “privileging of science over traditional thought and action”. (Conceptual Dictionary, 1994) The modernist believes that through the supremacy afforded to rationality and science over traditional thought it is possible to improve upon and progress human society. There is some disagreement as to whether the period of modernity has ended or not, and whether we are still in it, particularly from proponents of postmodernism.
    Word in Use: The objectives and hopes of modernity as purported by the philosophers of the Enlightenment was the continued improvement and ultimate perfection of human society.

    Bullock, A. and S. Trombley. eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.

    Bunnin, N., and J. Yu. eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Craig, A.P. et al. 1994. Conceptual Dictionary. Kenwyn, South Africa: Juta, University of Natal.

  • Goals

    Date: 2009.09.12 | Category: Assignments, Unit SSK12 | Response: 0

    Assignment
    Unit: SSK12
    Week: 2
    Date: 12 September 2009
    Assignment: QSK Worksheet

    QSKWorksheet

  • Metacognitive

    Date: 2009.09.07 | Category: Glossary, Unit SSK12 | Response: 0

    Glossary
    Unit: SSK12
    Week: 2 (updated in Week 6)
    Date: 07 October 2009 (Updated: 09 October 2009)

    Word: metacognitive adj.
    Context: Metacognitive is mentioned by Lorraine Marshall in the ‘Read this first’ introduction of A Guide to learning independently.
    Definition: The Australian Oxford Dictionary simply defines metacognition as “awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes”. This might be more simply put as thinking about your own thinking and recognising what factors might influence our thinking (Encarta, 2009). A Dictionary of Psychology informs us that “Writings on metacognition can be traced back at least as far as De Anima and the Parva Naturalia of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC), and the phenomenon was brought to prominence during the 1970s largely by the US psychologist John H(urley) Flavell (born 1928)…” In an influential article presented by psychologists, R.E. Nisbett and T.D. Wilson they “summarized a range of evidence suggesting that people are often unaware of the factors influencing their own choices, evaluations, and behaviour….” (A Dictionary of Psychology, 2009).
    Word in Use: As she became more metacognitive in her approach to her choices, she became more aware of what was influencing her behaviour.

    Marshall, L., and F. Rowland. 2006. A Guide To Learning Independently. 4th ed. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Education Australia.

    The Australian Oxford Dictionary. 2004. 2nd ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

    Encarta® World English Dictionary. 2009. Metacognition.
    http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?search=metacognitive
    (accessed September 07, 2009)

    “metacognition n.” A Dictionary of Psychology. Edited by Andrew M. Colman. Oxford University Press 2009. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Murdoch University. <http://0-www.oxfordreference.com.prospero.murdoch.edu.au/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t87.e5014>
    (accessed September 07, 2009)