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.

---