Worldview

Professor Richard Dewitt, Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Fairfield University, defines worldview as follows:

Although the term "worldview" has been used fairly widely for over 100 years, it is not a term that carries a standard definition. So it is worth taking a moment to clarify how I will be using the term. In the shortest of descriptions, I will use "worldview" to refer to a system of beliefs that are interconnected in something like the way the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle are interconnected. That is. a worldview is not merely a collection of separate, independent, unrelated beliefs, but is instead an intertwined, interrelated, interconnected system of beliefs.

Writing from the perspective of the history and philosophy of science, Professor Dewitt refers to systems of beliefs like those enunciated by, for example, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Isaac Newton, quantum physicists and contemporary (early 21st century) cosmologists.

Complexity theorist, Professor Francis Heylighen at the Free University of Brusells, emphasizes a more human dimension of the concept:

One of the biggest problems of present society is the effect of overall change and acceleration on human psychology. Neither individual minds nor collective culture seem able to cope with the unpredictable change and growing complexity…What we need is a framework that ties everything together, that allows us to understand society, the world, and our place in it, and that could help us to make the critical decisions which will shape our future. It would synthesize the wisdom gathered in the different scientific disciplines, philosophies and religions. Rather than focusing on small sections of reality, it would provide us with a picture of the whole. In particular, it would help us to understand, and therefore cope with, complexity and change. Such a conceptual framework may be called a "world view”

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