The term "worldview" is something I've heard thrown around a great deal in recent years, but what really is a "worldview"? Worldview is "an aspect of human existence-comprising such elements as experience, ethics, beliefs, ritual, and institutions" (Smart, 2000, p. 4). I think, most simply put, a worldview is how we look at the world. It is the filter through which we view all knowledge and experience. According to Smart, "From one perspective the different worldviews are maps of how to live" (p. 54).
If we view everything through the lens of our own worldview, how can we ever know what is really true? Two different people could come across the same piece of information and form completely divergent opinions about it. Likewise, two different people could share the same experience but react in completely separate ways as a result. All because their worldviews are different. When you look at another person, or especially when you look at another culture, "if you describe the other merely from your own point of view it is not realistic because in effect you are not describing the other, but yourself" (Smart, 2000, p.2). So how can we ever truly be objective?
When we say that we are being objective, are we telling the truth or are we just kidding ourselves? If our worldview is part of our basic existence, is simply turning it off even possible when "worldviews for many people are subliminal; they tend to be a part of the larger culture that is accepted without challenge" (Knight, 2006, p. 234). Can someone consciously turn off something which is unconscious?
I pose these questions as food for thought, not because I think I have the answers.
References
Knight, G. R. (2006). Philosophy & education an introduction in Christian perspective (fourth edition). Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press.
Smart, N. (2000). Worldviews: Crosscultural explorations of human belief (third edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
No comments:
Post a Comment