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Worldview

Kfox

Well-Known Member
If you don't find the word or concept useful then by all means don't use it. Perhaps now you have a better understanding of the variety of ways others may use it and it can give you an opportunity decipher what they are trying to say.
I don't use the term, I was only trying to understand why others do.
 

mangalavara

हर हर महादेव
Premium Member
However if you don't have a particular views that stands out among everything else, I don't see how such a person would have a worldview. Do you agree? If not, tell me where I've gone wrong.

Do you mean that a person might be influenced by so many things but not one thing (such as Christianity) more than the other things? If that is the case, I would say that the person still has a worldview, albeit their own unique worldview. Depending on what part of the world they come from, you could call it a Western or Eastern worldview because their culture shapes beliefs that are in the back of their mind.

By the way, regarding what @Quintessence says in post #9, there is an article by an academic that I found very helpful many years back. The article explains what a worldview is and what its components are. You can find it at this link.
 

Kfox

Well-Known Member
Do you mean that a person might be influenced by so many things but not one thing (such as Christianity) more than the other things? If that is the case, I would say that the person still has a worldview, albeit their own unique worldview.
Being that no two are identical, doesn't that make ALL worldviews unique?
 

mangalavara

हर हर महादेव
Premium Member
Being that no two are identical, doesn't that make ALL worldviews unique?

Yes, I think all worldviews are unique in that sense. Nonetheless, we can say that a worldview is Eastern, Western, Naturalist, Hindu, Jewish, etc.
 

Kfox

Well-Known Member
Yes, I think all worldviews are unique in that sense. Nonetheless, we can say that a worldview is Eastern, Western, Naturalist, Hindu, Jewish, etc.
So if (for example) a worldview is Western, what does this say about that person?
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
So if (for example) a worldview is Western, what does this say about that person?
That's a really complicated question best answered by specialist professionals - those who have studied the history and culture of Western civilization as well as contemporary trends. It's also something you get with a college liberal arts education - the entire point of liberal arts education requiring so much study of humanities and social sciences is to understand what it means to be human. And, consequently, the perspectives (worldviews) of different humans and cultures throughout history. It is a lifetime of study.
 

Kfox

Well-Known Member
That's a really complicated question best answered by specialist professionals - those who have studied the history and culture of Western civilization as well as contemporary trends. It's also something you get with a college liberal arts education - the entire point of liberal arts education requiring so much study of humanities and social sciences is to understand what it means to be human. And, consequently, the perspectives (worldviews) of different humans and cultures throughout history. It is a lifetime of study.
What is required of a person in order to have a Western Worldview? What's required of a person to have a Christian worldview? Or any other worldview?
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
What is required of a person in order to have a Western Worldview? What's required of a person to have a Christian worldview? Or any other worldview?
Growing up in that respective culture and not instead following some countercultural or alternative cultural worldview.
 

Kfox

Well-Known Member
Enculturation &/or propagamda.
But with so many different western nations, each with their own culture, what does it say about a person who has a western worldview? Also, if a person has a western worldview, might they also have a christian worldview when it comes to religion, and perhaps a republican worldview when it comes to politics? IOW will people have multiple worldviews?
 

Kfox

Well-Known Member
Growing up in that respective culture and not instead following some countercultural or alternative cultural worldview.
But with so many different western nations, each with their own culture, what does it say about a person who has a western worldview? Also, if a person has a western worldview, might they also have a christian worldview when it comes to religion, and perhaps a republican worldview when it comes to politics? IOW will people have multiple worldviews?
 

Dao Hao Now

Active Member
Actually I forgot I asked this question before.
You started a thread titled “Worldview” (the exact same title as this thread) 3 months ago.
It has 222 posts with the last one being on Dec 18, with 86 of those posts being from you.
You are claiming to have “forgot” you asked this question before;
Are you a goldfish?

Before I waste my time…a couple questions.
What’s the difference between what you are asking here…….
What is a worldview? And is this something that only applies to religious people?
and here…….?
What is a worldview, and does everybody have one?

And what did you fail to understand from your first thread on the subject that has left you wondering the (as best I can determine) same question that you believe will bring you a different perspective?
 

SarahJackson

New Member
Truth is the answer. Look for it and you will find it.

But How can you search for truth if you are strangled by the deadly sins? you cannot because you are lost if you are in sin
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
But with so many different western nations, each with their own culture, what does it say about a person who has a western worldview? Also, if a person has a western worldview, might they also have a christian worldview when it comes to religion, and perhaps a republican worldview when it comes to politics? IOW will people have multiple worldviews?
Like I said in my earlier response, that's a really complicated question best answered by specialist professionals who study the arts, humanities, and social sciences. If you're expecting a simplistic response, I'm not going to give you one. Not just because it that's being disingenuous to the topic at hand, but because culture studies is hardly my own area of expertise and it is genuinely better for you to come to your own conclusions.

Take classes at university. Talk to and listen to professors and subject experts. There's really no "right" answers for a topic like this. Does someone only have one worldview? Yes. Does someone have multiple worldviews? Yes. However you want to see it. Which, ironically, is also literally how worldviews work - however you see it.
 

Ella S.

Well-Known Member
So if (for example) a worldview is Western, what does this say about that person?

Exactly that. That their worldview is informed by a Western perspective. It doesn't say much else, so "Western" only has limited, contextual value as a description.

The same can be said for other descriptions like "Christian," "communist," and "atheist." Interestingly, one person can be a Christian atheist and a communist at the same time. They could be a cultural Christian invested in Jeffersonian or Jesusist philosophy who, despite lacking a belief in God, is still invested in the Christian church community and believes that the church would make a great starting point for forming a communist dual power structure, for instance.

Which part of their worldview is most relevant to describe depends a lot on the conversation. If they're in an interfaith dialogue with a Muslim, they might focus on their Christianity. If they're in a theological debate with other Christians, they might focus on their atheism. If they're trying to organize a political protest, they might focus more on their communism.

And with other Christians, they might distinguish themselves further. Are they Orthodox, Catholic, or Lutheran? With other communists, likewise, they might distinguish themselves as an anarcho-communist or a Marxist-Leninist.

It really depends on what feature of their worldview is most relevant to a given topic. Some facets of our worldview we can't really help, such as our sex, ethnicity, where we're born and raised, the income status we're born into, and so on. We can choose to expand our horizons by listening to the perspectives of people from other backgrounds in order to reduce this uncontrollable source of bias, but we will still usually retain some elements of our background.

Worldviews are dynamic and nuanced. A single label can't tell you everything about a person's worldview, but it can act as a rough estimate that's precise enough for specific conversations.
 

Kfox

Well-Known Member
You started a thread titled “Worldview” (the exact same title as this thread) 3 months ago.
It has 222 posts with the last one being on Dec 18, with 86 of those posts being from you.
You are claiming to have “forgot” you asked this question before;
Are you a goldfish?
Like many here, this is not the only forum I am a part of, I am part of several. Sometimes I will ask the same questions of different forums to get different perspectives but this time I made the mistake of asking the same question on the same forum a simple mistake.
Before I waste my time
If you find this a waste of your time, might I suggest you go elsewhere, there are plenty of topics to choose from
…a couple questions.
What’s the difference between what you are asking here…….

and here…….?
There is no difference, the questions were pretty much the same
And what did you fail to understand from your first thread on the subject that has left you wondering the (as best I can determine) same question that you believe will bring you a different perspective?
If you will notice the first time I asked I was not given what I consider to be a reasonable response so there was not much to be learned from the first time I asked the question. A different perspective would be a response that actually makes sense to me.
 

Kfox

Well-Known Member
Like I said in my earlier response, that's a really complicated question best answered by specialist professionals who study the arts, humanities, and social sciences. If you're expecting a simplistic response, I'm not going to give you one. Not just because it that's being disingenuous to the topic at hand, but because culture studies is hardly my own area of expertise and it is genuinely better for you to come to your own conclusions.

Take classes at university. Talk to and listen to professors and subject experts. There's really no "right" answers for a topic like this. Does someone only have one worldview? Yes. Does someone have multiple worldviews? Yes. However you want to see it. Which, ironically, is also literally how worldviews work - however you see it.
Thanks for your perspective.
 

Kfox

Well-Known Member
Exactly that. That their worldview is informed by a Western perspective. It doesn't say much else, so "Western" only has limited, contextual value as a description.

The same can be said for other descriptions like "Christian," "communist," and "atheist." Interestingly, one person can be a Christian atheist and a communist at the same time. They could be a cultural Christian invested in Jeffersonian or Jesusist philosophy who, despite lacking a belief in God, is still invested in the Christian church community and believes that the church would make a great starting point for forming a communist dual power structure, for instance.

Which part of their worldview is most relevant to describe depends a lot on the conversation. If they're in an interfaith dialogue with a Muslim, they might focus on their Christianity. If they're in a theological debate with other Christians, they might focus on their atheism. If they're trying to organize a political protest, they might focus more on their communism.

And with other Christians, they might distinguish themselves further. Are they Orthodox, Catholic, or Lutheran? With other communists, likewise, they might distinguish themselves as an anarcho-communist or a Marxist-Leninist.

It really depends on what feature of their worldview is most relevant to a given topic. Some facets of our worldview we can't really help, such as our sex, ethnicity, where we're born and raised, the income status we're born into, and so on. We can choose to expand our horizons by listening to the perspectives of people from other backgrounds in order to reduce this uncontrollable source of bias, but we will still usually retain some elements of our background.

Worldviews are dynamic and nuanced. A single label can't tell you everything about a person's worldview, but it can act as a rough estimate that's precise enough for specific conversations.
It sounds like worldview is sorta like opinion; would you agree?
 
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