‘Epistemology models ontology’− In gesprek met John Polkinghorne
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Authors
Buitendag, Johan
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OpenJournals Publishing
Abstract
The famous premise of John Polkinghorne, ‘epistemology models ontology’, has been assessed
in this article. It is interpreted that its logic is based on a linear trajectory of knowledge → being.
Polkinghorne places much emphasis on the fact that he pursues a ‘bottom-up’ approach, that
is, an inductive way of going about with reality. He opts for a ‘critical realist’ view of reality
that leads him to interpret indeterminacy (Heisenberg) as a sign of actual ontological openness
to the future and not primarily as an epistemological deficit. He applies subsequently the
doctrine of the Trinity as a hermeneutical tool to understand reality. The author argues that
Polkinghorne is inconsistent in this venture and that he should consider a multidimensional
approach, where epistemology and ontology model each other mutually, that is, knowledge
↔ being. In order to acknowledge the stratification of reality and the pluriformity of
epistemologies, it is suggested that a rather ‘constructive-realist’ approach would serve better
the theology of Polkinghorne; this is a shift from epistemology to hermeneutics.
Description
Keywords
Epistemology
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Buitendag, J., 2011, ‘”Epistemology models ontology”− In gesprek met John Polkinghorne’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 67(1), Art. #897, 9 pages. DOI: 10.4102/hts.v67i1.897 [http://www.hts.org.za]