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The twentieth-century Dutch philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd (1894–1977) left behind an impressive canon of philosophical works and has continued to influence a scholarly community in Europe and North America, which has extended, critiqued, and applied his thought in many academic fields. Jonathan Chaplin introduces Dooyeweerd for the first time to many English readers by critically expounding Dooyeweerd’s social and political thought and by exhibiting its pertinence to contemporary civil society debates.
Chaplin begins by contextualizing Dooyeweerd’s thought, first in relation to present-day debates and then in relation to the work of the Dutch philosopher Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920). Chaplin outlines the distinctive theory of historical and cultural development that serves as an essential backdrop to Dooyeweerd’s substantive social philosophy; examines Dooyeweerd’s notion of societal structural principles; and sets forth his complex classification of particular types of social structure and their various interrelationships. Chaplin provides a detailed examination of Dooyeweerd’s theory of the state, its definitive nature, and its proper role vis-à-vis other elements of society. Dooyeweerd’s contributions, Chaplin concludes, assist us in mapping the ways in which state and civil society should be related to achieve justice and the public good.
“[Herman Dooyeweerd] is loaded with provocative ideas, arguments, questions, and proposed revisions to Dooyeweerd’s philosophy. Those who know the work of Dooyeweerd will find the book illuminating and thought provoking. Those who are new to Dooyeweerd will find the book a helpful introduction, though it cannot make Dooyeweerd’s difficult and complex philosophy less difficult and complex than it is. The book is an important step forward in Dooyeweerd studies.” —Philosophia Reformata
Jonathan Chaplin is director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, Cambridge, England.
Introduction
1. Christianity, Civil Society, and Pluralism
Bringing Civil Society Back In
Bringing Christianity Back into Civil Society
Bringing Civil Society Back into Pluralism 13
2. Dooyeweerd in Context
Calvinism, Modernity, and Pluralism
From “Calvinist” to “Christian” Philosophy
A Guide to This Book
3. Religion and Philosophy
The Necessity of Religious Presuppositions
The Biblical Ground Motive
Foundational Philosophical Ideas: Meaning, Time, Law
4. Plurality, Identity, Interrelationship
Modality and Analogy
Laws and Norms
Individuality
Interlacement
5. A Philosophy of Cultural Development
Human Normative Disclosure
Integration and Differentiation
Critique and Clarification
6. A Philosophy of Social Pluralism
The Identity of Social Structures
A Critical Reformulation
7. A Medley of Social Structures
Categories of Social Structure
Enkaptic Social Relationships
Pluralism, Individualism, and Universalism
8. The Identity of the State
Political Philosophy in Crisis
Power in Service of Justice
9. The Just State
Law and Justice
Spheres of Justice
The State’s Sphere of Justice
Constitutional Democracy
10. An Active, Limited State
The Meaning of Public Justice
The Task of the State
11. Civil Society and Christian Pluralism What Is Civil Society?
What Is Civil Society For? Three Models Assessed
Epilogue: Religious Discourse in State and Civil Society
Appendix 1. Dooyewerd’s Conception of the Task of Social Philosophy
Appendix 2. Dooyeweerd on Natural Law and Legal Positivism
Notes
Bibliography
Index