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Beyond Emergence: Learning from Dooyeweerdian Anthropology?

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The Future of Creation Order

Part of the book series: New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion ((NASR,volume 3))

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Abstract

In dialogue with Gerrit Glas’ contribution to this volume, this chapter interacts with two clusters of concepts of emergence, drawing on Dooyeweerdian insights in order to provide a thorough critique of them and to provide an alternative proposal. It starts from the concept of emergence as used today in analytical philosophy of mind, discussing Jaegwon Kim’s critical work on emergence, Philip Clayton’s emergentist “ontological monism,” and non-reductive physicalism. Drawing on Dooyeweerd’s modal aspects, I conclude that this type of emergence cannot fulfil the promise of providing a satisfactory non-reductive view. The chapter then discusses a concept of emergence used in the context of phenomenology and developed by a group of philosophers inspired by Francisco Varela. Proponents of this second approach share some concerns with a Dooyeweerdian-inspired critique of analytical emergence, but their explicit stance against creation leads them to develop co-emergence in accordance with Buddhist “emptiness.” This chapter then examines Dooyeweerd’s refusal of mind−body dualism, linked to his rejection of the concept of substance and “logos speculation.” Based on the biblical warrant for the role of the divine Logos in creation, I conclude, over against Dooyeweerd, that the concept of substance can be redeemed and that a minimal form of dualism is necessary in order to account for the Bible’s teaching about humans. Adopting a realist reading of the multidimensionality of human existence uncovered by Dooyeweerd’s modal aspects analysis, we arrive at a truly non-reductionist view of human nature, which the two forms of emergence examined here aimed at but could not provide.

The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70881-2_16

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It bears mention that not all neuroscientific research points in the direction of monism : despite ever more precise observations of the dependence of the mind on brain functions, there is an emerging body of anecdotal evidence related to so-called near-death experiences. They may suggest an operation of the mind during time intervals where no brain function can be measured (cf. Beauregard and O’Leary 2007, 153−166). Several scientific studies are currently being undertaken in order to evaluate the solidity of the evidence reported. For a critical presentation of the phenomenology and neurology of near-death experiences , cf. Blanke and Dieguez (2009).

  2. 2.

    For an overview of different notions of emergence , see also Clayton (2004, chaps. 1 and 2) and O’Connor and Wong (2009).

  3. 3.

    Cf. my analysis of the notion of supervenience in David Lewis ’ philosophy in Jaeger (2007, 152−165).

  4. 4.

    A point made by Kim (2006, 557). Cf. my critique of non-reductive physicalism in Jaeger (2012a, 295−312).

  5. 5.

    Expression inspired by Pascal ([1670] 1976, 114, pensée no. 233).

  6. 6.

    Bas van Fraassen proposed the comparison with Leibniz at a conference on February 10, 2004, at the CRÉA, Paris.

  7. 7.

    To be precise, Van Fraassen offers this diagnosis for materialism, but it easily transfers to physicalism .

  8. 8.

    The Fermi-Dirac statistics apply to fermions (e.g., electrons) and the Bose-Einstein statistics to bosons (e.g., photons).

  9. 9.

    All have links to the Mind and Life Institute, which started from discussions between Francisco Varela and the Dalai Lama and explores the relationship between Buddhism and science .

  10. 10.

    For an introduction to the Middle Way , see Garfield (1995).

  11. 11.

    Translation by Jonathan Vaughan .

  12. 12.

    My interest in the place of the logos in Dooyeweerd’s thought arose from a comment on this replacement which Henri Blocher made in his course on contemporary thought (Pensée contemporaine, Faculté libre de théologie évangélique de Vaux-sur-Seine, 1991/1992, notes taken by Laurent Clemenceau ). At and after the conference in Amsterdam , Rob A. Nijhoff and René van Woudenberg provided very relevant comments and references which helped me to get a better grasp of Dooyeweerd’s critique of the logos theory.

  13. 13.

    For the English rendering of the Dutch text, I follow the translation in Bishop and Kok (2013, chap. 14). Page numbers refer to the Dutch original.

  14. 14.

    It is one of the paradoxes of Dooyeweerd that he never enters into close dialogue with the biblical text, although he holds to the authority of the divine verbal revelation . (Historically, this silence may have been, at least partly, due to accusations raised against him by theologians at the Vrije Universiteit, which made him very cautious of moving into the explicitly theological realm, not being a professional theologian himself.) In addition, one may ask if, in spite of his better intentions, his idea of the human heart as supra-temporal unity does not jeopardize the Creator −creature distinction.

  15. 15.

    Cf. Paul quoting a verse from the Phenomena of Aratos (third century BC) which expresses the continuity between God and humanity: “We are also His offspring” (Acts 17:28).

  16. 16.

    Cf. his critique of Bernhard Bavink’s critical realism (Dooyeweerd 1953, 560n2). I further develop the implications of the rejection of logos epistemology for the notion of truth in Jaeger (2012b). A critique of my article can be found in Coletto (2015).

  17. 17.

    The antithetical character of autonomous thought is not to be confused with the antithetical structure of the gegenstand -relation: the latter is “relative and requires a theoretical synthesis developed by the thinking ‘self ’”; the former is “absolute” as it is the result of neglecting the transcendent grounding of all thought (Dooyeweerd 1948, 60−61).

  18. 18.

    There is a subtle debate in Trinitarian theology on the exact notion of the person . Traditionally, the person as “mode of being” played a central role. I use here a slightly more existentialist notion.

  19. 19.

    Despite the existence of alternatives (e.g., soul sleep and immediate resurrection ), I consider that the traditional understanding of human existence between the individual’s death and the eschatological resurrection has good biblical warrant. For a thorough defence of the continued disembodied existence in time , cf. Nicole (2009) and Buchhold (2009). One of the strongest arguments for the contemporaneity of the intermediate state with ordinary history is Jesus’ existence between his death and his resurrection three days later, and his promise to the criminal crucified at his side: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Biblique de Nogent-sur-Marne, Nogent-sur-Marne, France

    Lydia Jaeger

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  1. Lydia Jaeger
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Correspondence to Lydia Jaeger .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerrit Glas

  2. Department of Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Jeroen de Ridder

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Jaeger, L. (2017). Beyond Emergence: Learning from Dooyeweerdian Anthropology?. In: Glas, G., de Ridder, J. (eds) The Future of Creation Order. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion , vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70881-2_11

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