Naming the Elephant
Subtitle: Worldview As a Concept
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: June 2004
Place of publication: Downers Grove, IL
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 172
ISBN-13: 9780830827794
Subjects: Religion; Religious; Philosophy; Christian Theology - General; Faith; Christianity - Theology - General
First sentence: I do not know precisely where I got the following story, which I adapted long ago for my own purposes.
Description: "What is a worldview? What lies behind our thoughts about almost everything?" "For more than thirty years James W. Sire has grappled with this issue. In this book he offers readers his most mature thought on the concept of a worldview, addressing such questions as: what is the history of the concept itself?; What is the first question we should ask in formulating a worldview: What is the really real? or How do we know anything at all?; How are worldviews formed existentially as well as intellectually?; Is a worldview primarily an intellectual system, a way of life or a story?; What are the public and private dimensions of a worldview?; and What role can worldview thinking play in assessing our own worldview and those of others, especially in light of the pluralism within which we live?." "In his textbook The Universe Next Door, first published in 1976, Sire offered a succinct definition of a worldview and cataloged in summary fashion seven basic worldview alternatives. Students, critics, new literature and continued reflection have led him to reexamine and refine his definition of a worldview. This companion volume to The Universe Next Door is the fruit of that effort." "Here is resource for all who want to explore more deeply how and why worldview thinking can aid us in navigating our pluralistic universe."--BOOK JACKET.
Table of contents: title: Camel, kangaroo, and elephant; title: Worldview definitions : from Dilthey to Naugle; title: First things first : being or knowing; title: Flesh and bones : theoretical and pretheoretical; title: Rational system, way of life, and master story; title: Worldviews : public and private; title: Worldview : a refined definition; title: Intelligent people who clash by day : worldviews as a tool for analysis