Interview (part2) with Marinus Dirk Stafleu

This is the second part of an interview with Professor Stafleu - the first part is here.

Access to the majority of his work can be found here: https://allofliferedeemed.co.uk/stafleu/ 

- You were a visiting scientist at the H.H.Wills Physics Laboratory in Bristol for a while - did you have any contact with any British reformational scholars at that time? What was your impression of the UK?

During this visit of ten months in 1968-1969, I studied extensively Herman Dooyeweerd’s New Critique, and I wrote Analysis of time in modern physics (see below). However, I did not meet British reformed scholars. It is a remarkable fact that their number is significantly larger than in any other European country, with the exception of the Netherlands. I benefitted from several fruitful contacts with British scholars interested in Christian philosophy.

- Which of your books (or articles) do you regard as the most important - and why?

I have the habit of publishing my views first in a paper, next in a book. During my development as a philosopher, five papers have been pivotal:

* ‘Analysis of time in modern physics’ (1970), Philosop­hia Reformata 35:1-24,119-131. Introducing subject-subject relations, I amended Dooyeweerd’s philosophy of time.

* ‘Some problems of time - some facts of life’ (1986), Philos­op­hia Reformata 51:67-82, is the first paper in which I put forward that evolution is consistent with Christian philosophy. 

* ‘On the character of social communities, the state and the public domain’ (2004), Philosophia Reformata 69:125-139, proposed the political relation frame.

* ‘Philosophical ethics and the so-called ethical aspect’ (2007), Philosophia Reformata 72:21-33, argues that ethics is not qualified by a specific relation frame.

* ‘Time and history in the philosophy of the cosmonomic Idea’ (2008), Philosophia Reformata 73:154-169, presents my philosophy of history.

My most important books are:

* Time and again, A systematic analysis of the founda­tions of physics, Toronto: Wedge; Bloemfon­tein: Sacum 1980; revised 2019: www.mdstafleu.nl. Some friends in Canada and South Africa made the publication of my first book possible. For several natural scientists in The Netherlands and abroad, it became their first introduction to PCI. It was discussed during a summer seminar at the Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, in 1975, where each participant commented on a chapter of the book. 

* Theories at work, On the structure and functioning of theories in science, in particular during the Copernican revolution, Lanham 1987: University Press of America. This book is based on a series of lectures given at a summer school at the Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, 1985 and on lectures delivered at the University of Potchefstroom, South Africa, where I was a guest in 1981 and 2001. This book reports on my study of the philosophy of science from a historical perspective. It was revised in 2016 as Theory and experiment, Philosophy of science in a historical context.

 

* Chronos & Clio, Time in history, Buijten & Schipperheijn, Amsterdam 2011. (Translation 2012 on my website.) This book contains my mature views on the meaning of time and human history. 

* Encyclopaedia of relations and characters. I. Natural laws. II. Normative principles, 2018-2019, This book summarizes my views on relations and characters, both natural and normative, in their dynamic development. The unravelling of the architecture of relation frames and character types is like solving an interlocking puzzle.

* A strong state and a strong society, 2019, discusses my views of the political relation frame, the state, and civil society.

- Which of your books (or articles) do you think provides the best introduction to your work?

I should recommend The open future, Contours of a Christian philosophy of dynamic development, 2017.

- Which books have been most influential in your development as a scholar?

Besides Herman Dooyeweerd’s works, these are books by critical realists like Mario Bunge and Karl Popper, and by realist historians of science like Eduard Dijksterhuis, Alexandre Koyré, Stillman Drake, and David Wootton. The philosophy of dynamic development is based on a realistic reading of the history of science, rejecting Enlightenment philosophy, romanticism, positivism, historism, and relativism alike, as I discussed in Nature and freedom, Philosophy of nature, Natural theology, Enlightenment and Romanticism (2018), 

- What advice would you give to budding reformational scholars?

Be critical and creative, not believing in anyone’s self-appointed authority. Enlarge the Enlightenment’s ‘Dare to think’, into ‘dare to believe that the world is created according to natural laws and normative principles to be discovered and to be elaborated’. Keep an open mind to the future. Evolution and history will never end, nor will philosophy.

- What challenges do you see facing the reformational movement at the moment?

To take distance from conservatives like the creationists, and to develop a truly progressive and dynamic view of our time and history.

- What do you like to do for fun?

Reading history. Travelling, visiting ancient and medieval historical sites. I like puzzles, reading and viewing thrillers. My philosophical project is a puzzle-solving activity.

- And finally, in true desert-island-discs style: If you were on a desert island what two luxuries would you take with you?

A computer and a reliable broadband internet connection.