Last week, the Emerging Scholars Network began a James W. Sire Worldview Question-and-Answer series with Is Atheism a Worldview? As I have considered the development of Sire’s thought on worldview, I continue to be struck by the importance of life story, see Jim Sire: Excerpt from “Rim of the Sandhills“.
Question 2:
“Is there still a place for propositional logic in apologetics or worldview studies?” — John
James W. Sire’s response:
“Of course, there is. Postmodernism, however you define it, is filled with propositions which are either true or false or confused. Only careful logical thinking will get us close to an understanding of what “postmodernism” itself is. Any claim made by any worldview requires rational thinking to understand let alone to determine if it is worthy of belief. The principle of non-contradiction is assumed by every coherent proposition.
Let’s take these two propositions; the second explains the first: “There is no substantial self; human beings make themselves who they are by the languages they construct about themselves” (definitional point No. 5 in my chapter on postmodernism in The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog 5th edition, p. 226). Whatever this proposition means requires rational thought involving the principle of non-contradiction to understand. And even more rational thought to determine if it is true, false, or confused. [Read more…] about Jim Sire addresses: “Is there still a place for propositional logic in apologetics or worldview studies?”