pp 23- Humanism
Summary
Humanism began to become the dominant worldview. It made humanity sovereign. It secularised creation, fall and redemption.
Revelation was replaced by science
Christian freedom was replaced by the the sovereign freedom of the human personality
The humanistic worldview entailed a dualism of freedom and nature:
It resulted in two poles: the science ideal and the personality ideal.
The science ideal is epitomised today by Richard Dawkins. It resulted in rationalism and modernism
The science ideal resulted in a mathematisation of nature.
Mathematics became the origin of all laws and of temporal life.
The personality ideal did not become popular until later. It resulted in Romanticism and post-modernism.
The science ideal implied that social relationships were simple mathematical components ie abstract units.
In the social contract freedom is given up to the State. In the Aristotelian compromise the State existed before the individual, here the individual exists before the State.
Study questions
1. In what way was the science ideal reminiscent of nominalism?
