Critical Thinkng for Leaders
Student 2025
3.2Discussion-WorldviewsAnswertheBigQuestionsofLife.docxGetting Started
In his book “The Universe Next Door,” James Sire (2020) defined 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” (p. 17).
Most individuals give little thought to the worldview they hold. However, each person possesses a worldview, whether or not they are consciously aware of it. Worldview matters because the answers to life’s biggest and most challenging questions matter. Professor David Williams (2013) expounded on this when he wrote: “We all live out a network of implicit answers to such questions, though the answers our lives suggest are often rather less than inspiring: Yep, this is it. Life is about being able to retire comfortably (on a beach somewhere). We ought, therefore, to live our lives so as to experience as much pleasure as is possible without losing our jobs or being incarcerated. Such would appear to be the de facto worldview of the average pursuant of the American Dream. When we pause to reflect, however, many of us suspect that there are better answers to be had and more substantial lives to be lived. But the question becomes ‘Like what’” (para. 4–5)?
To begin getting at some of the more substantive and coherent sets of answers, Sire (2020) helps us explore some of life’s most challenging questions and then offers coherent answers that help get to the heart of what is important. Only then may we chart our “true, original course.”
Sire’s seven worldview questions, which we will explore in the assigned videos, include:
1. What is prime reality–the really real?
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
3. What is a human being?
4. What happens to a person at death?
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?
6. How do we know what is right and wrong?
7. What is the meaning of human history?
Background Information
You may find useful Dr. Greg Hall’s website, in which he explores “Do You Understand Worldview(new tab)”
Whether consciously recognized or not, each person has a worldview. An old joke compares worldviews to life in a fishbowl: Goldfish #1: “So, how do you like the water?” Goldfish #2: “What water?”
INSTRUCTIONS
Review the information in the Getting Started and Background Information sections.
Prepare by reading and watching the assigned materials:
a. Read the Introduction to the Sire textbook (pp. 13–22).
b. Watch the video (5 min): Elephant in the Room(new tab)
c. Watch the video lecture, “Worldviews: Exploring Naturalism, Materialism, Relativism/Postmodernism, Pantheism, Christian Theism"
In your initial posting (300–400 words), discuss two key themes that were the most thought-provoking for you (and why). Be specific. What challenges have you faced when your worldview conflicts with someone else’s worldview? How did you manage the challenges?
Getting Started
In his book “The Universe Next Door,” James Sire (2020) defined 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 entirel
y 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” (p. 17).
Most individuals give little thought to
the worldview they hold. However, each person possesses a
worldview, whether or not they are consciously aware of it. Worldview matters because the answers to
life’s biggest and most challenging questions matter. Professor David Williams (2013) expounded
on this
when he wrote: “We all live out a network of implicit answers to such questions, though the answers
our lives suggest are often rather less than inspiring: Yep, this is it. Life is about being able to retire
comfortably (on a beach somewhere). We
ought, therefore, to live our lives so as to experience as
much pleasure as is possible without losing our jobs or being incarcerated. Such would appear to be the
de facto worldview of the average pursuant of the American Dream. When we pause to reflect,
however, many of us suspect that there are better answers to be had and more substantial lives to be
lived. But the question becomes ‘Like what’” (para. 4
–
5)?
To begin getting at some of the more substantive and coherent sets of answers, Sire (2020) helps
us
explore some of life’s most challenging questions and then offers coherent answers that help get to the
heart of what is important. Only then may we chart our “true, original course.”
Sire’s seven worldview questions, which we will explore in the assi
gned videos, include:
1.
What is prime reality
–
the really real?
2.
What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
3.
What is a human being?
4.
What happens to a person at death?
5.
Why is it possible to know anything at all?
6.
How do we know wh
at is right and wrong?
7.
What is the meaning of human history?
Getting Started
In his book “The Universe Next Door,” James Sire (2020) defined 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” (p. 17).
Most individuals give little thought to the worldview they hold. However, each person possesses a
worldview, whether or not they are consciously aware of it. Worldview matters because the answers to
life’s biggest and most challenging questions matter. Professor David Williams (2013) expounded on this
when he wrote: “We all live out a network of implicit answers to such questions, though the answers
our lives suggest are often rather less than inspiring: Yep, this is it. Life is about being able to retire
comfortably (on a beach somewhere). We ought, therefore, to live our lives so as to experience as
much pleasure as is possible without losing our jobs or being incarcerated. Such would appear to be the
de facto worldview of the average pursuant of the American Dream. When we pause to reflect,
however, many of us suspect that there are better answers to be had and more substantial lives to be
lived. But the question becomes ‘Like what’” (para. 4–5)?
To begin getting at some of the more substantive and coherent sets of answers, Sire (2020) helps us
explore some of life’s most challenging questions and then offers coherent answers that help get to the
heart of what is important. Only then may we chart our “true, original course.”
Sire’s seven worldview questions, which we will explore in the assigned videos, include:
1. What is prime reality–the really real?
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
3. What is a human being?
4. What happens to a person at death?
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?
6. How do we know what is right and wrong?
7. What is the meaning of human history?
