ABSTRACT
The main thesis of Herman Dooyeweerd’s philosophy is that scientific enquiry and philosophical thought are not neutral with respect to religion, but fundamentally dependent on the religious point of departure of the philosopher or the scientist. The main critical thrust of Dooyeweerd’s philosophy is directed against what he calls ‘the dogma of the autonomy of theoretical thought.’ The dogma of the autonomy of theoretical thought has then, according to Dooyeweerd, been more of a hindrance than a help towards a fruitful discussion between the various schools. Dooyeweerd’s earliest attempt at dealing with the problem was in a series of articles published between 1924 and 1927 in Antirevolutionaire Staatskunde, journal of Abraham Kuyper Foundation. In 1935 Dooyeweerd interpreted the cosmonomic idea as the fundamental regulative idea that determines the way in which a philosopher answers the basic problems of philosophy. Dooyeweerd’s most extended attempt at finding such an inner point of contact is found in the last stage of Dooyeweerd’s development.
