Does Reformational philosophy have an answer to the many guises of pluralism?

Abstract

Both the transformation of society and the inner reformation of the sciences require and are dependent upon global views of reality, society, man, nature and truth and implicitly harbour views of order. Moreover, Reformational philosophy as a transcendentalist project argues that all theoretical positions implicitly or explicitly harbour such global views. Dooyeweerd’s philosophy, rooted in the ‘metanarrative’ of Christianity provides significant distinctions which make it possible to contextualize many of the issues raised in post-modernism. It is this type of global view that arouses the suspicion ofpostmodernists who have a strong suspicion about meta-narratives of any kind and especially notions of totality and universality. In this paper it is argued that Reformational philosophy’s emphasis on the diversity and coherence of the creational order and the diversity transcending fullness of meaning given in Jesus Christ provide significant barriers to counteract the phenomenon o f 'wild pluralism’ so characteristic of post-modernism’s emphasis on pluralism in cultures and scientific theorizing.