Is the Idea of Creation Order Still Fruitful?

Abstract

Dooyeweerd noted that the idea of cosmic order is present throughout the history of philosophy. The legacy of Plato and Aristotle was uprooted by modern nominalism which challenged the Greek-medieval realistic metaphysics by eliminating what Christianity saw as the God-given order for (law for) creatures and the orderliness of creatures. Denying universality outside the human mind eliminated any God-given order for and orderliness of creatures. This created a vacuum quickly filled by nominalism, for now human understanding took over the role of law-giver (Kant). Historicism and the linguistic turn pursued the road to an unbridled irrationalism and relativism. All of this adds up to a systematic elimination of the idea of a creational order. Clearly these diverging developments bring to expression the abyss between the spirit of modern humanism and reformational Christianity. Alternatively, reformational philosophy explores the idea of a creational order by turning away from an epistemic point of departure towards an ontic perspective, making possible a new approach towards the various dimensions of reality. This new approach is designated as the transcendental-empirical method. It advances a new way of articulating the foundational role of a creational order or a cosmic law-order. This is illustrated by the provision of a definition of a natural law and of norming principles. The argument concludes by pointing out that the future of the idea of a creational order depends on a proper understanding of the constancy and universality of such an order—embedded in a non-reductionist ontology.