10.04.2006

Reconstructing The Puzzle

The material complexity of Dooyeweerd's transcendental critique is hidden by a comparatively simple formal structure. But in order to really explain the critique (as I must for my thesis) one cannot, obviously, avoid explaining the material concepts. This is a significant part of what's taking me longer than I had hoped.

For example, in his A New Critique of Theoretical Thought (3 volumes), Dooyeweerd asks on page 41 of the first volume "And how is this abstraction possible?" Then, approximately 525 pages later, on page 6 of the second volume he says "The question how this entire process of abstraction is possible will be answered later on in a special chapter on the epistemological problem"... referring to a section approximately 990 pages after the original question!

Everything in between is building up to the answer. Thankfully, I don't need to distill and summarize everything in between. But the necessary "selection" process, prior to distillation, is itself a puzzle. I think I've got a handle on it, but my grip feels slippery.

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