Aspects of Reality

as We Experience It This page gives entry to understanding Dooyeweerd's modal aspects

- his theory, his suite, and their applications.

The Dutch philosopher, Herman Dooyeweerd reflected on the diversity of everyday experience like no other philosopher has done. He suggested it emerges from a diversity of meaning (and law) as follows, with approximately fifteen [Note 1] ways of seeing things - that is, aspects :

Meaning Aspect Example discrete amount Quantitative This 1 page is about 15 aspects, and has a certain number of words. continuous space Spatial This page is laid out in rectangular areas. movement Kinematic The page invites your gaze to move across it. energy + mass, forces Physical This page emits light. life functions + organisms Biotic /

Organic Certain of your nerve cells are activated by this page. sense, feeling, emotion Sensitive /

Psychic This page can be seen. distinction, conceptualization Analytical You can distinguish things on this page, and think about them. achievement, construction, history, technology Formative You construct an impression of this page. meaning carried by symbols Lingual You understand (or not!) some of what this page tells you. 'we': relationships, roles, convention Social You have role as reader.

This page is not conventional. frugal management of resources Economic Trying to get all that is needed into this page. harmony, play, enjoyment Aesthetic Is this page interesting? Does it 'work' as a whole? due: responsibilities+rights Juridical Does this page do justice to the topic, and to you as reader? self-giving love, generosity Ethical /

Attitudinal Does this page go beyond doing justice? vision, aspiration, commitment, belief Pistic /

Faith I believe in what I am writing on this page, and believe it's important.

Fifteen - rather difficult to remember? The alternative table below might make it easier.

Each aspect is a constellation of meaning, rich and diverse, centred a on a kernel or nucleus, and for each of which we offer a page. Aspects are also called modalities or spheres.

When you click each aspect above you get its individual page, which discusses details of:

Defining the aspect - its kernel meaning, some central themes, common misconceptions

The aspect itself - the good it brings, harm associated with it, its non-absoluteness, its special science and institutions

The aspect among others - the need for it, its dependency, its analogies, common reductions and resulting antinomies

Notes - discussions in literature, various specific issues, comments received, etc.

Each heading in each page has a small letter x , which will take you directly to an explanation of that section.

"I enjoyed going for walks in the dunes in the evening. During one of these walks in the dunes I received an insight (ingeving) that the diverse modes of experience, which were dependent upon the various aspects of reality, had a modal character and that there had to be a structure of the modal aspects in which their coherence is reflected. The discovery of what I called 'the modal aspects of our experience horizon' was the point of connection." Herman Dooyeweerd,

cited in Henderson [1994:37-38] "In fact the system of the law-spheres designed by us can never lay claim to material completion. A more penetrating examination may at any time bring new modal aspects of reality to the light not yet perceived before. And the discovery of new law-spheres will always require a revision and further development of our modal analyses. Theoretical thought has never finished its task. Any one who thinks he has devised a philosophical system that can be adopted unchanged by all later generations, shows his absolute lack of insight into the dependence of all theoretical thought on historical development." Herman Dooyeweerd

New Critique, II,p.556]