---
abstract: 'The first part of this paper proposes a precise definition of what a worldview is, and why there is a necessity to have one. The second part suggests how to construct integrated scientific worldviews. For this attempt, three general scientific approaches are proposed: the general systems theory as the endeavor for a universal language for science, a general problem-solving approach and the idea of evolution, broadly construed. We close with some remarks about limitations of scientific worldviews.'
altloc:
- http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~clvidal/writings/Vidal_2008-what-is-a-worldview.pdf
chapter: 'What '
commentary: ~
commref: ~
confdates: ~
conference: ~
confloc: ~
contact_email: ~
creators_id: []
creators_name:
- family: Vidal
given: Clément
honourific: ''
lineage: ''
date: 2008-06-20
date_type: completed
datestamp: 2008-07-15 09:54:12
department: ~
dir: disk0/00/00/60/94
edit_lock_since: ~
edit_lock_until: ~
edit_lock_user: ~
editors_id: []
editors_name: []
eprint_status: archive
eprintid: 6094
fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/6094/2/Vidal_2008%2Dwhat%2Dis%2Da%2Dworldview.pdf
full_text_status: public
importid: ~
institution: ~
isbn: ~
ispublished: inpress
issn: ~
item_issues_comment: []
item_issues_count: 0
item_issues_description: []
item_issues_id: []
item_issues_reported_by: []
item_issues_resolved_by: []
item_issues_status: []
item_issues_timestamp: []
item_issues_type: []
keywords: 'worldview, problem-solving, systems theory, integrative worldview, scientific worldview'
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:57:08
latitude: ~
longitude: ~
metadata_visibility: show
note: 'Published in Dutch. '
number: ~
pagerange: ~
pubdom: TRUE
publication: De wetenschappen en het creatieve aspect van de werkelijkheid
publisher: ~
refereed: TRUE
referencetext: "Aerts, Diederik, Leo Apostel, Bart De Moor, Staf Hellemans, Edel Maex, Hubert Van Belle, and Jan Van der Veken. World Views. From Fragmentation to Integration. Brussels: VUB Press, 1994 http://www.vub.ac.be/CLEA/pub/books/worldviews.pdf \r\nApostel, Leo, and Jan Van der Veken. Wereldbeelden, Van Fragmentering Naar Integratie. Kapellen: DNB/Pelckmans, 1991 \r\nBahm, Archie J. Comparative Philosophy: Western, Indian, & Chinese Philosophies Compared. Albuquerque, N.M.: World Book, 1995 \r\n———. The Philosopher's World Model. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1979 \r\nBarkow, Jerome H., Leda Cosmides, and John Tooby. The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992 \r\nBoulding, Kenneth E. \"General Systems Theory: The Skeleton of Science.\" Management Science 2, no. 3 (1956): 197-208 http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Books/Boulding.pdf \r\n———. \"What Is Evolutionary Economics?\" Journal of Evolutionary Economics 1, no. 1 (1991): 9-17 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01202334 \r\nBroad, Charlie D. \"Philosophy.\" Inquiry I (1958): 99-129 \r\nCampbell, Donald T. \"Evolutionary Epistemology.\" In The Philosophy of Karl Popper, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, 413-63. La Salle: Open Court Publishing, 1974 \r\nCarnap, Rudolf, Hans Hahn, and Otto Neurath. Wissenschaftliche Weltauffassung: Der Wiener Kreis. Vienna, 1929 \r\nCarvalho Iv, John J. \"Overview of the Structure of a Scientific Worldview.\" Zygon 41, no. 1 (2006): 113-24 \r\nChaisson, Eric J. Cosmic Evolution: The Rise of Complexity in Nature. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2001 \r\nDucasse, Curt J. Philosophy as a Science, Its Matter and Its Method. New York: O. Piest, 1941 \r\nEdelman, Gerard M. Neural Darwinism: The Theory of Neuronal Group Selection. New-York: Basic Books, 1987 \r\nElchardus, Mark. Wantrouwen En Onbehagen. Brussel: VUB Press, 1998 \r\nFogel, David B. Evolutionary Computation: Toward a New Philosophy of Machine Intelligence. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press, 1995 \r\nGoldratt, Eliyahu M., and Jeff Cox. The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement: North River Press, 1984 \r\nHeylighen, Francis. \"World View.\" Principia Cybernetica Web, http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/WORLVIEW.html.\r\nKant, Immanuel. Kritik Der Urteilskraft. Ditzingen: Reclam, 1790. Reprint, 1986 \r\nKauffman, Stuart A. \"Beyond Reductionism: Reinventing the Sacred.\" Zygon 42, no. 4 (2007): 909 http://www.ucalgary.ca/files/ibi/BeyondReductionism9.pdf.\r\n———. Investigations: Oxford University Press, USA, 2000 \r\nLévy, Pierre. World Philosophie: Le Marché, Le Cyberespace, La Conscience. Paris: Editions Odile Jacob, 2000 \r\nMyers, David G. The Pursuit of Happiness. New York: Avon Books, 1993 \r\nNaugle, David K. Worldview: The History of a Concept. Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2002 \r\nPopper, Karl R. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. London: Routledge, 1959 \r\n———. \"On the Status of Science and of Metaphysics.\" In Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge, edited by Karl R. Popper, 249-71. London & New York: Routledge, 1989. Reprint, Conjectures and Refutations. The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (5th edition, revised; London & New York: Routledge, 1989), 184-200 \r\nRescher, Nicholas. Philosophical Reasoning: A Study in the Methodology of Philosophizing. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2001 \r\nScheinkopf, Lisa J. Thinking for a Change: Putting the Toc Thinking Processes to Use: CRC Press, 1999 \r\nSmolin, Lee. \"Did the Universe Evolve?\" Classical and Quantum Gravity 9, no. 1 (1992): 173-91 \r\nVidal, Clément. \"An Enduring Philosophical Agenda. Worldview Construction as a Philosophical Method.\" Submitted for publication (2007) http://cogprints.org/6048/ \r\nvon Bertalanffy, Ludwig. General Systems Theory. New York: Braziller, 1968 \r\nWolters, Albert M. \"On the Idea of Worldview and Its Relation to Philosophy.\" In Stained Glass: Worldviews and Social Science, 14-25. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1989 http://groups.apu.edu/theophil/Culp/Phil496%20Readings/Optional%20Wolters%20Ideas.pdf "
relation_type: []
relation_uri: []
reportno: ~
rev_number: 43
series: ~
source: ~
status_changed: 2008-07-15 09:54:12
subjects:
- phil-sci
- comp-sci-complex-theory
- phil-metaphys
succeeds: ~
suggestions: ~
sword_depositor: ~
sword_slug: ~
thesistype: ~
title: What is a worldview?
type: bookchapter
userid: 6933
volume: ~