When I think about Aspects one of the things I typically visualize is a suspension bridge, that is: intersecting strands working together to make, hold up, sustain a bridge.
So, what is an Aspect?
Andrew Basden writes that Dooyeweerd never really gave a definition, rather advocating the idea was intuitively grasped. (Basden, 2008, p63). If you think about, or analyze, any thing, a person, a place, an event, anything, it can be said that the thing operates in accordance to a way of being. Indeed, it can be said to operate in accordance to one than one way of being. And if you were, you discuss the thing from one way of being and then from another. And in that way take a different perspective on the thing. You might notice there are similarities amongst the perspectives, yet they appear to have much in common. However, each way of thinking about the thing gives a unique spin on your analysis.
Albert Wolters writes that Aspects are “one of the [numerous] fundamental ways of being distinguished by Dooyeweerd. As modes of being, they are sharply distinguished from the concrete things to which they belong.” (Wolters, 1985, p.169) Roy Clouser says it’s “a basic kind of properties and laws.” (Clouser, p267)
So, Aspects are Modes of Being, ways in which a thing can exist and function, exhibit their idionomy, the structure of their individuality.
Dooyeweerd proposed a suite of Aspects. He did not think it definitive. In fact, he frequently modified it. Others have contributed as well. What follows in one articulation of that suite.
On Aspects
When I think about Aspects one of the things I typically visualize is a suspension bridge, that is: intersecting strands working together to make, hold up, sustain a bridge.
So, what is an Aspect?
Andrew Basden writes that Dooyeweerd never really gave a definition, rather advocating the idea was intuitively grasped. (Basden, 2008, p63). If you think about, or analyze, any thing, a person, a place, an event, anything, it can be said that the thing operates in accordance to a way of being. Indeed, it can be said to operate in accordance to one than one way of being. And if you were, you discuss the thing from one way of being and then from another. And in that way take a different perspective on the thing. You might notice there are similarities amongst the perspectives, yet they appear to have much in common. However, each way of thinking about the thing gives a unique spin on your analysis.
Albert Wolters writes that Aspects are “one of the [numerous] fundamental ways of being distinguished by Dooyeweerd. As modes of being, they are sharply distinguished from the concrete things to which they belong.” (Wolters, 1985, p.169) Roy Clouser says it’s “a basic kind of properties and laws.” (Clouser, p267)
So, Aspects are Modes of Being, ways in which a thing can exist and function, exhibit their idionomy, the structure of their individuality.
Dooyeweerd proposed a suite of Aspects. He did not think it definitive. In fact, he frequently modified it. Others have contributed as well. What follows in one articulation of that suite.
Basden, p64
Photo: Wheeling Suspension Bridge by Damon Green