65 pages • 2 hours read
James SireThe Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog
James SireNonfiction | Reference/Text Book | Adult | Published in 1976A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Literary Context: Christian Apologetics
Defined as the intellectual defense of the Christian religion, Christian apologetics is a tradition with a long history. In general, it aims both to persuade nonbelievers of the truth of Christianity and to alleviate doubts in believers. To this end, apologetics relies in particular on rational or philosophical arguments to demonstrate the validity of Christianity.
In the period of early Christianity, theologians such as Origen, Tertullian, and Augustine presented defenses of their beliefs in the face of the older Jewish tradition (portraying Christianity as the fulfillment of that tradition) and against the dominant Greco-Roman culture that often persecuted Christians. In the later Middle Ages, after Christianity had become dominant, thinkers like Thomas Aquinas concentrated on arguing for Christianity’s superiority to the more recently founded religion of Islam as well as to the older religion of Judaism, using (as did the earlier apologists) philosophical reasoning derived from the Greek tradition.
With the rise of skepticism about religion in the early modern period, Christian thinkers like Blaise Pascal, Joseph Butler, and William Paley pitched their arguments to the newly secular intellectual culture, arguing that a supernatural belief system like Christianity remained viable in a scientific age. In the 20th century, the British writer C. S. Lewis became a widely popular writer of Christian apologetics, using both essays and fiction to present the case that Christianity was both intellectually and imaginatively satisfying.
The Universe Next Door partakes of the tradition of Christian apologetics in that Sire is arguing for the truth of Christian theism, specifically by contrasting it with other worldviews. Like Christian apologists of the past, Sire relies heavily on philosophy and logic to demonstrate the truth or falsehood of various beliefs. However, the book’s emphasis is on the comparison of worldviews rather than on the defense of Christianity. After a thoroughgoing examination of other worldviews aimed at increasing understanding of these systems of thought, Sire draws the conclusion that Christian theism is the most satisfactory worldview. Importantly, Sire treats the systems of thought as worldviews—all-encompassing ways of seeing reality—rather than strictly as religious systems of belief, although religion figures prominently in the discussion.
Philosophical Context: The Concept of "Worldview"
Widely used in both popular and scholarly contexts, the word “worldview” originated as a translation of the German word Weltanschauung (which is also sometimes used untranslated). First employed by Immanuel Kant, the term was further developed by the German philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) as part of his attempt to develop a methodology (or theory of interpretation) for the humanities and social sciences similar to that which Kant had made for the natural sciences.
Dilthey argued that every interpretation (e.g., of a historical event or work of literature) “takes place within a larger understanding of the world (i.e., a Weltanschauung), which itself is historically conditioned” (“Weltanschauung.” Encyclopedia). Interpreters of human history and culture, Dilthey argued, must recognize that they themselves are immersed in a particular culture and historical situation, with the limitations of perspective that this implies. Ideas, attitudes, and institutions are not absolutes but are historically relative, and we must keep this in mind when evaluating such phenomena.
The psychologist Sigmund Freud took this idea further by interpreting intellectual and cultural history as a succession of different worldviews. According to Freud, the modern world was giving birth to a rational or scientific worldview that was replacing the previous religious and philosophical worldview; psychoanalysis was the culmination of this process. The philosopher Martin Heidegger further developed these ideas, writing that human existence is characterized by a meaningful orientation to the world that is historically contingent and rooted in one’s particular context, something he calls in-der-Welt-sein (Being-in-the-world). Earlier, the philosopher (and Heidegger’s teacher) Edmund Husserl identified a similar concept, “life-world” (Lebenswelt), as the “horizon of consciousness” that allows us to make sense and find personal meaning in things. As commonly used today, the word “worldview” encompasses cultural and religious beliefs and practices, philosophies, and ideologies as they shape our perspective on life.
The Universe Next Door shows how the term, formerly confined to academia, has entered the popular consciousness in more recent times. Like a number of other Christian authors, Sire employs “worldview” as a template for examining different belief systems. For Sire, worldviews are “universes fashioned by words and concepts that work together to provide a more or less coherent frame of reference for all thought and action” (5). Bringing the concept of worldview down from the academic to the popular level, Sire emphasizes that “everyone has a worldview” and that the “examined life” consists of bringing that latent worldview to the surface of our consciousness (5).
Critical Context: Bias in The Universe Next Door
In the Preface, Sire states the intentions and scope of the book. The Universe Next Door is a basic introduction to worldviews from the viewpoint of one of those worldviews, namely, Christian theism; it is intended primarily for Christian college students attempting to navigate a pluralistic world. Sire states his belief that no treatment of a serious intellectual topic can be completely unbiased. Although Sire clarified the parameters of the book, critics argue nevertheless that Sire’s bias in favor of Christian theism undermines the text’s stated purpose.
Such bias is seen especially in the language Sire uses in discussing various worldviews, of which the chapter titles are indicative. That on Christian theism, for example, is titled “A Universe Charged with the Grandeur of God” (12)—a poetic and positive assertion of Christian theism’s content. By contrast, other worldviews are titled on the basis of their shortcomings from the Christian perspective or of their place in the trajectory of Western thought. For example, the chapter on New Age is titled “Spirituality Without Religion,” while that on Islam is titled simply “A View from the Middle East.”
Although Sire asserts in Chapter 11 that theism like all worldviews has “questions and rough edges” (275), the chapter on Christian theism largely avoids discussing these problems, instead presenting the worldview in an affirmative light. A critical perspective contends that, while in this chapter Sire’s purpose is to reinforce and enhance his own (Christian) belief system, in other chapters, by contrast, Sire’s focus is on arguing for the worldview’s inconsistencies and failings. In several chapters (e.g., Chapters 3 and 8), Sire begins critiquing the worldview while in the midst of expounding it.
At the same time, the book’s analysis strives for objectivity and balance within the parameters of a polemical text. Sire emphasizes the complexity of philosophical issues with analytical rigor and highlights factions and nuances that exist within the worldviews. Moreover, as new editions of the text were published, Sire included revised content, indicating his willingness to reconsider positions and respond to criticism, while still maintaining the book’s Christian convictions.
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