LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 15:3 March 2015
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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M. S. Thirumalai
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The Influence of Nominalism on the Development of
the Modern Worldview

Tom Shetler

Abstract

Two forceful concepts were instrumental in the formation of the modern world. The first was the worldly emphasis of nominalism which replaced the ancient idealism of the Greek philosophers, and the second was the rise of inductive reasoning as the pathway to knowledge rather than the older emphasis on deduction. Nominalism, the focus on the actual objects in the world, gave birth to the radical empiricism that dominates our culture, while the emphasis on inductive reasoning as the pathway to truth led us to the scientific method and the scientific revolution that is central to our worldview. Nominalism and the inductive approach also led to the emphasis on reasoning from immediate experience and a de-emphasis on reasoning from principle, this led to both naturalism and relativistic pluralism (postmodernism). In this paper we will give a short summary of the debates surrounding nominalism and realism, along with a record of the shift from deduction to induction in the pursuit of truth, and look at some of the ways the resulting consensus influenced our world today. In particular we will examine the role these forces played in the development of modern and postmodern philosophy and theology.

Key words:

nominalism, idealism, reasoning, immediate experience, naturalism, relativism, pluralism, postmodern theology

Introduction

Two forceful concepts were instrumental in the formation of the modern world. The first was the worldly emphasis of nominalism which replaced the ancient idealism of the Greek philosophers, and the second was the rise of inductive reasoning as the pathway to knowledge rather than the older emphasis on deduction.

Nominalism, the focus on the actual objects in the world, gave birth to the radical empiricism that dominates our culture, while the emphasis on inductive reasoning as the pathway to truth led us to the scientific method and the scientific revolution that is central to our worldview. Nominalism and the inductive approach also led to the emphasis on reasoning from immediate experience and a de-emphasis on reasoning from principle, this led to both naturalism and relativistic pluralism (postmodernism).

In this paper we will give a short summary of the debates surrounding nominalism and realism, along with a record of the shift from deduction to induction in the pursuit of truth, and look at some of the ways the resulting consensus influenced our world today. In particular we will examine the role these forces played in the development of modern and postmodern philosophy and theology.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Tom Shetler
Senior Faculty
Bethany Global University
6820 Auto Club Road
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
tomshetler@hotmail.com
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