K. A. Bril

Vollenhoven's Problem-historical Method: Introduction and Explorations K. A. Bril

Brill gives a concise overview of the Dutch philosopher Dirk Vollenhoven's problem-historical method and its influence on Reformational philosophy. Bril first highlights changing historical periods, including the internalizing or subjectivizing of the norms lying outside of, or behind, the cosmos. Part Two reviews four models of historiography, namely those of Jan Hendrik van den Berg, Michel Foucault, Thomas Kuhn, and Vollenhoven. Then he explains Vollenhoven's distinctions between the so-called "types" or ontologies as different traditions of thought. Part Four gets at the question, "What must I do?" Philosophers over the course of time have answered this question differently and taken different positions regarding the pertinent norms and criteria. Bril considers the place of religion and time-currents in this process.