What is a worldview?

Worldview - The Seven Basic Questions

The Seven Basic Questions

James W. Sire has written a book called The Universe Next Door. In it, he outlines seven basic questions that can help us to describe worldviews. Sire defines a worldview as “a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being” (The Universe Next Door 17). These following questions will help you understand each worldview that you encounter.

1. Is there a God? What is He like? 

2. What is the nature of the universe. it's origin and structure? 

3. What is the essential nature of man? 

4. What is the basis of morality and Ethics? 

5. What is the cause of evil and suffering?

6. What happens to man at death and then after? 

7. What is the meaning of history?

New Oxford American dictionary

worldview |ˈwərldˌvyoō| (also world view)noun a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world : a Christian worldview revolves around the battle of good and evil.
This (worldviews) is the main topic of research at the Center Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies.

According to Apostel, a worldview is an ontology, or a descriptive model of the world. It should comprise these six elements:

1. 1 explanation of the world
2. futurology, answering the question "Where are we heading?"
3. Values, answers to ethical questions: "What should we do?"
4. A praxeology, or methodology, or theory of action: "How should we attain our goals?"
5. An epistemology, or theory of knowledge: "What is true and false?"
6. An etiology. A constructed world-view should contain an account of its own "building blocks," its origins and construction.

A comprehensive world view (or worldview) is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing theentirety of the individual or society's knowledge and point-of-view, including natural philosophy; fundamental, existential, and normative postulates; or themes, values, emotions, and ethics.

^ Palmer, Gary B. (1996). Toward A Theory of Cultural Linguistics. University of Texas Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-292-76569-6.

How Worldview Shapes Culture

Your        WORLDVIEW                 shapes your           VALUES             which shape your         BEHAVIOR            which shapes your          CULTURE