In the past, as in non-western cultures, thinkers have tried to
construct explicit world views, taking into account the knowledge of reality
available in their time. The history of philosophy and comparative
philosophy can give us insight into all these attempts to understand and
evaluate the factual world. The fragments of world views elicited are
often incomplete, contradictory, vague, and not always rational. How can we
evaluate from our own point of view these philosophies and segments of
world views
from the past? Philosophical systems of the past and present can
certainly be an inspiration, since they can illuminate certain aspects of
the world in which we live and in this way illuminate a multitude of
answers and problems. They should be evaluated, however, on their capacity
for maximal integration of the fragments. Aware of the fact that every
question about world-view construction has to start from an implicit,
fragmented world view that cannot be made completely explicit, we must
be even more critical of attempts at striving towards a unique and
absolute world view.
construct explicit world views, taking into account the knowledge of reality
available in their time. The history of philosophy and comparative
philosophy can give us insight into all these attempts to understand and
evaluate the factual world. The fragments of world views elicited are
often incomplete, contradictory, vague, and not always rational. How can we
evaluate from our own point of view these philosophies and segments of
world views
from the past? Philosophical systems of the past and present can
certainly be an inspiration, since they can illuminate certain aspects of
the world in which we live and in this way illuminate a multitude of
answers and problems. They should be evaluated, however, on their capacity
for maximal integration of the fragments. Aware of the fact that every
question about world-view construction has to start from an implicit,
fragmented world view that cannot be made completely explicit, we must
be even more critical of attempts at striving towards a unique and
absolute world view.