Chapter 1 THE CONCEPT AND NATURE OF “WORLDVIEW”
Introduction
We live in a very complex universe comprising of various things. Some of the things are
observable phenomena while others are just mental constructs. Our experience of any aspect
of the universe raises a number of questions. Up in the sky are celestial objects and on earth
are various geographical features.
Our natural environment consists of air, water and various forms of flora and fauna, some of
which live on land while others are only found in waters. Surrounded by all these natural
objects, we ask ourselves about the origins of the universe and all that exists. When we meet
people from other communities we notice that we are similar yet so different in many ways.
We wonder about the relationship between ourselves and other people of different color,
culture or speech. In our daily interaction with other people, we realize that behave
differently and hold certain values that are different from ours. Then we ask whether there are
any universal standards of behavior.
The daily happenings on earth never cease to amaze us. There are questions about the source
of the good and bad things that seem to happen to people in equal measure. We wonder about
the constant regeneration and degeneration of plant and animal life. Where do children come
from at birth and where do people go when they die? Indeed our diverse experiences in the
universe compel us to form opinions about the basic make - up of the world. The reality in
the world has its actual state of being. However, people often have varied assumptions about
the same reality because of differences in “worldview.”
Definition of ‘Worldview’
Worldview is not some objective reality, but formulates one’s perspective of what is real.
World view has been defined in many ways. One of the most influential writers on this topic
is Michael Kearney in his “World View theory and Study”, Annual Review of Anthropology 4
(1975), pp. 247 – 270 and World View (Novato, CA: Chandler and Sharp Pub., 1984).
Kearney defines world view as,
A people’s way of looking at reality. It consists of basic assumptions and images that
provide a more or less coherent, though not necessarily accurate, way of thinking
about the world. A world view comprises itself of Self and of all that is recognized as
not Self, plus ideas about relationships between them, as well as other ideas.
(Kearney, 1984:53).
Charles Kraft, a Christian writer defines it as,
The central systematization of concepts of reality to which the members of a culture
assent (largely unconsciously) and from which stems their value system. The
worldview lies at the very heart of culture, touching, integrating with, strongly
influencing every part of culture. (Charles Kraft, 1984, Christianity and Culture.
Maryknoll: Orbis Books: 53)
James Sire states that “A worldview is a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) which we
hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic make-up of our world.” (James Sire,
1976, The Universe Next Door. Leicester: IVP: 17). Palmer (1997) defines worldview as “a
set of beliefs and practices that shape a person’s approach to the most important issues in
life.”
© SPU 2017/2018: Contact: Onesphore Ngabo – 0721-276927 – and Other UCC 101 Lecturers Page 1
,“Worldview” can be defined as a culturally conditioned “mindset” or “framework of
thought,” which is used to assign meaning to reality around us. It is an inbuilt mental frame
of reference within a person’s mind, which one invokes to make sense of things or issues in
the world.
It is a way of perceiving, and making sense of the information from the world about us. It is
the preconceived ideas of a people that allows them to cope reasonably successfully in the
world they live in.
It is the way a person understands and interprets the things which happen to him and to other
people. It is a person’s way of understanding life and the world in which he lives. It is a
person’s belief about what is real and what is not real. It is his way of understanding reality.
Different groups of people in the world have different worldviews. The way they understand
and explain life would make them foreigners to each other even if they spoke the same
language. By and large, a worldview is acquired collectively. Specific groups of people have
their own worldview. However, individuals can also have their own personal worldviews.
A person’s worldview may be formed through cultural socialization, upbringing, media and
other environmental encounters. An individual’s worldview is a combination of all that a
person believes to be true, which then becomes a driving force behind every emotion,
decision and action. A personal worldview affects one’s response to every area of life: from
philosophy to science, theology and anthropology to economics, law, politics, art and social
order.
The worldview that a person has depends on the group of people to which he or she belongs.
It will depend on the community where he grew up and on what he learned from his family
and his teachers. The worldview of a people is one key to understanding why a particular
group of people act the way they do. For example, an apple sitting on a table is seen by
several people. A botanist looking at the apple classifies it. An artist sees a still-life and draws
it. A grocer sees an asset and inventories it. A child sees lunch and eats it. How we look at
any situation is influenced by how we look at the world at large.
Basic Characteristics of a worldview
1. A system of ideas and values.
It consists of shared framework of ideas held by a particular society concerning how they
perceive the world. Everyday experiences are fitted into this framework in order to give a
totality of meaning and comprehension for the individual. World view gives shape and order
to the multitude of outward manifestations of a culture. Worldviews are incarnated in the
actual ways of life of a person and his/her society.
World view is closely connected with theology and philosophy, but it is much more than
these. Theologies are organized systems of thought formulated by intellectuals to describe
some ideal model of reality. The term worldview, on the other hand, relates to ways of
perceiving reality, and in so doing provides a deeper level of assumption than philosophy or
theology. Philosophy seems to be restricted to the intellectuals, but every person has a
worldview.
© SPU 2017/2018: Contact: Onesphore Ngabo – 0721-276927 – and Other UCC 101 Lecturers Page 2
, 2. Worldview is invisible
It is impossible to see a worldview because it is a mental construct. However, worldviews are
implied in people’s actions, thoughts, and words. All human behaviour is governed by
beliefs.
3. Worldview is wholistic
A worldview tries to see every area of life and thought in an integrated version. Worldviews
consist of assumptions or presuppositions that people make about reality. There is no reality
that is not addressed by a worldview.
4. A set of assumptions i.e. Worldview is subjective
The ideas and values the world view embraces always seem logical and obvious to the people
of the particular culture. Worldview consists of ideas that give comprehension and sense to
the people who participate within that culture. It suggests how everything looks to a people,
and the way we see ourselves in relation to all else.
There is no universal perspective on reality. Worldviews are constructed and contested. They
are created by human beings and different groups in a community who tend to view things
differently. In every worldview, people make certain assumptions about reality and the
assumptions may not be necessarily true. Perceptions of reality are only assumed to be true
but no effort is made to validate them. In other words, worldviews cannot be subjected to
empirical analysis.
5. A model to explain reality
Worldview attempts to show order and predictability within everyday experiences. New facts
or experiences are required to fit into the framework of ideas in order to make a unified
system, and if not they are discarded. This is referred to as a way of making “common-sense”
of human experience (cf. the illusion of a vase or two people’s faces in profile: here the mind
confronts a pattern that can be interpreted in at least 2 equally probable ways, and keeps
jumping between each interpretation testing various hypothesis in an attempt to resolve the
ambiguity. Ordinary life cannot be lived in a continual state of ambiguity; consequently one
must accept one or other perspective).
Worldview enables a particular society and member of that society to make sense of their
experiences of the world about them.
6. Worldview shapes people’s behaviour
The thoughts, words, and actions of people are outcomes of their worldview. People behave
in accordance with the values drawn from their worldviews. In other words, worldviews
provide mental blue prints which guide people in daily living. The worldview assumptions
underlying our behaviors are mostly held unconsciously although sometimes we become
aware of them.
© SPU 2017/2018: Contact: Onesphore Ngabo – 0721-276927 – and Other UCC 101 Lecturers Page 3
, 7. Worldview is learned
Worldviews are not genetically acquired. In every worldview, a person learns from others in
the group and gradually identifies himself/herself with the group. People tend to see things as
others in their group see them. Through a process of socialization people learn to perceive
reality in ways remarkably similar to the perceptions of others in their group. A worldview
then is a group thing, produced by people in concert with others as they look at reality.
Children listen and observe adult behaviours and learn the assumptions and values of their
elders.
Worldview is learned unconsciously early in life as the person acquires their culture (i.e. we
tend to be unaware of our own worldview). A child may be said to be born cultureless and yet
in a few years quickly begins to develop the skills to interact with his/her environment in a
socially acceptable way. This is most clearly seen in the way that baby learns to be able to
speak and communicate with others.
This process of conditioning (= enculturation) continues throughout our lives and gradually
these learned patterns become the habits that guide our lives. These habits allow us to predict
the behaviour of others, and enable us to cope successfully with the environment in which we
live.
Culture with its worldview becomes visible on the boundary, in comparison with others, just
like we may not notice that the air makes life possible until we meet another atmosphere.
We are unaware of how we have acquired our worldview, like the little English boy who
puzzled at the struggles that a Korean man was having with speaking English. ‘What is the
problem?’ the boy asked, ‘all I have to do is open my mouth and English comes out!’ The
boy did not understand how he was able to speak English because it was so much part of him
and his upbringing. Worldview therefore has been compared to coloured glass through which
people see themselves and the world around them (David Hesselgrave, 1978, Communicating
Christ Cross-culturally. Grand Rapids: Zondervan: 125). Everything is given the “tint” of the
particular “glass of the worldview” the person happens to be wearing.
The major challenge of this process (of enculturation) is that because we are so familiar with
particular patterns and ideas we assume that they are the best and most logical! This attitude
is known among all societies, and it is referred to as ‘ethnocentrism’, or ‘cultural pride’. “We
are all captives of the pictures in our heads” (Time Magazine, 2 December, 1985).
With this in mind, we have to note that people are reluctant to change their worldview unless
it proves totally inadequate to help them cope with their current situation. Stable, repetitive
experiences reinforce the traditional worldview. When experiences become unpredictable
according to the traditional worldview, people in that society should question the traditions of
the ancestors.
Functions of a worldview
According to David Burnett, 2002. Clash of Worlds. Mill Hill/Grand Rapids: Monarch
Books: 31-32, Worldview, a society’s basic model of reality, serves several major functions,
among them:
© SPU 2017/2018: Contact: Onesphore Ngabo – 0721-276927 – and Other UCC 101 Lecturers Page 4
Introduction
We live in a very complex universe comprising of various things. Some of the things are
observable phenomena while others are just mental constructs. Our experience of any aspect
of the universe raises a number of questions. Up in the sky are celestial objects and on earth
are various geographical features.
Our natural environment consists of air, water and various forms of flora and fauna, some of
which live on land while others are only found in waters. Surrounded by all these natural
objects, we ask ourselves about the origins of the universe and all that exists. When we meet
people from other communities we notice that we are similar yet so different in many ways.
We wonder about the relationship between ourselves and other people of different color,
culture or speech. In our daily interaction with other people, we realize that behave
differently and hold certain values that are different from ours. Then we ask whether there are
any universal standards of behavior.
The daily happenings on earth never cease to amaze us. There are questions about the source
of the good and bad things that seem to happen to people in equal measure. We wonder about
the constant regeneration and degeneration of plant and animal life. Where do children come
from at birth and where do people go when they die? Indeed our diverse experiences in the
universe compel us to form opinions about the basic make - up of the world. The reality in
the world has its actual state of being. However, people often have varied assumptions about
the same reality because of differences in “worldview.”
Definition of ‘Worldview’
Worldview is not some objective reality, but formulates one’s perspective of what is real.
World view has been defined in many ways. One of the most influential writers on this topic
is Michael Kearney in his “World View theory and Study”, Annual Review of Anthropology 4
(1975), pp. 247 – 270 and World View (Novato, CA: Chandler and Sharp Pub., 1984).
Kearney defines world view as,
A people’s way of looking at reality. It consists of basic assumptions and images that
provide a more or less coherent, though not necessarily accurate, way of thinking
about the world. A world view comprises itself of Self and of all that is recognized as
not Self, plus ideas about relationships between them, as well as other ideas.
(Kearney, 1984:53).
Charles Kraft, a Christian writer defines it as,
The central systematization of concepts of reality to which the members of a culture
assent (largely unconsciously) and from which stems their value system. The
worldview lies at the very heart of culture, touching, integrating with, strongly
influencing every part of culture. (Charles Kraft, 1984, Christianity and Culture.
Maryknoll: Orbis Books: 53)
James Sire states that “A worldview is a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) which we
hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic make-up of our world.” (James Sire,
1976, The Universe Next Door. Leicester: IVP: 17). Palmer (1997) defines worldview as “a
set of beliefs and practices that shape a person’s approach to the most important issues in
life.”
© SPU 2017/2018: Contact: Onesphore Ngabo – 0721-276927 – and Other UCC 101 Lecturers Page 1
,“Worldview” can be defined as a culturally conditioned “mindset” or “framework of
thought,” which is used to assign meaning to reality around us. It is an inbuilt mental frame
of reference within a person’s mind, which one invokes to make sense of things or issues in
the world.
It is a way of perceiving, and making sense of the information from the world about us. It is
the preconceived ideas of a people that allows them to cope reasonably successfully in the
world they live in.
It is the way a person understands and interprets the things which happen to him and to other
people. It is a person’s way of understanding life and the world in which he lives. It is a
person’s belief about what is real and what is not real. It is his way of understanding reality.
Different groups of people in the world have different worldviews. The way they understand
and explain life would make them foreigners to each other even if they spoke the same
language. By and large, a worldview is acquired collectively. Specific groups of people have
their own worldview. However, individuals can also have their own personal worldviews.
A person’s worldview may be formed through cultural socialization, upbringing, media and
other environmental encounters. An individual’s worldview is a combination of all that a
person believes to be true, which then becomes a driving force behind every emotion,
decision and action. A personal worldview affects one’s response to every area of life: from
philosophy to science, theology and anthropology to economics, law, politics, art and social
order.
The worldview that a person has depends on the group of people to which he or she belongs.
It will depend on the community where he grew up and on what he learned from his family
and his teachers. The worldview of a people is one key to understanding why a particular
group of people act the way they do. For example, an apple sitting on a table is seen by
several people. A botanist looking at the apple classifies it. An artist sees a still-life and draws
it. A grocer sees an asset and inventories it. A child sees lunch and eats it. How we look at
any situation is influenced by how we look at the world at large.
Basic Characteristics of a worldview
1. A system of ideas and values.
It consists of shared framework of ideas held by a particular society concerning how they
perceive the world. Everyday experiences are fitted into this framework in order to give a
totality of meaning and comprehension for the individual. World view gives shape and order
to the multitude of outward manifestations of a culture. Worldviews are incarnated in the
actual ways of life of a person and his/her society.
World view is closely connected with theology and philosophy, but it is much more than
these. Theologies are organized systems of thought formulated by intellectuals to describe
some ideal model of reality. The term worldview, on the other hand, relates to ways of
perceiving reality, and in so doing provides a deeper level of assumption than philosophy or
theology. Philosophy seems to be restricted to the intellectuals, but every person has a
worldview.
© SPU 2017/2018: Contact: Onesphore Ngabo – 0721-276927 – and Other UCC 101 Lecturers Page 2
, 2. Worldview is invisible
It is impossible to see a worldview because it is a mental construct. However, worldviews are
implied in people’s actions, thoughts, and words. All human behaviour is governed by
beliefs.
3. Worldview is wholistic
A worldview tries to see every area of life and thought in an integrated version. Worldviews
consist of assumptions or presuppositions that people make about reality. There is no reality
that is not addressed by a worldview.
4. A set of assumptions i.e. Worldview is subjective
The ideas and values the world view embraces always seem logical and obvious to the people
of the particular culture. Worldview consists of ideas that give comprehension and sense to
the people who participate within that culture. It suggests how everything looks to a people,
and the way we see ourselves in relation to all else.
There is no universal perspective on reality. Worldviews are constructed and contested. They
are created by human beings and different groups in a community who tend to view things
differently. In every worldview, people make certain assumptions about reality and the
assumptions may not be necessarily true. Perceptions of reality are only assumed to be true
but no effort is made to validate them. In other words, worldviews cannot be subjected to
empirical analysis.
5. A model to explain reality
Worldview attempts to show order and predictability within everyday experiences. New facts
or experiences are required to fit into the framework of ideas in order to make a unified
system, and if not they are discarded. This is referred to as a way of making “common-sense”
of human experience (cf. the illusion of a vase or two people’s faces in profile: here the mind
confronts a pattern that can be interpreted in at least 2 equally probable ways, and keeps
jumping between each interpretation testing various hypothesis in an attempt to resolve the
ambiguity. Ordinary life cannot be lived in a continual state of ambiguity; consequently one
must accept one or other perspective).
Worldview enables a particular society and member of that society to make sense of their
experiences of the world about them.
6. Worldview shapes people’s behaviour
The thoughts, words, and actions of people are outcomes of their worldview. People behave
in accordance with the values drawn from their worldviews. In other words, worldviews
provide mental blue prints which guide people in daily living. The worldview assumptions
underlying our behaviors are mostly held unconsciously although sometimes we become
aware of them.
© SPU 2017/2018: Contact: Onesphore Ngabo – 0721-276927 – and Other UCC 101 Lecturers Page 3
, 7. Worldview is learned
Worldviews are not genetically acquired. In every worldview, a person learns from others in
the group and gradually identifies himself/herself with the group. People tend to see things as
others in their group see them. Through a process of socialization people learn to perceive
reality in ways remarkably similar to the perceptions of others in their group. A worldview
then is a group thing, produced by people in concert with others as they look at reality.
Children listen and observe adult behaviours and learn the assumptions and values of their
elders.
Worldview is learned unconsciously early in life as the person acquires their culture (i.e. we
tend to be unaware of our own worldview). A child may be said to be born cultureless and yet
in a few years quickly begins to develop the skills to interact with his/her environment in a
socially acceptable way. This is most clearly seen in the way that baby learns to be able to
speak and communicate with others.
This process of conditioning (= enculturation) continues throughout our lives and gradually
these learned patterns become the habits that guide our lives. These habits allow us to predict
the behaviour of others, and enable us to cope successfully with the environment in which we
live.
Culture with its worldview becomes visible on the boundary, in comparison with others, just
like we may not notice that the air makes life possible until we meet another atmosphere.
We are unaware of how we have acquired our worldview, like the little English boy who
puzzled at the struggles that a Korean man was having with speaking English. ‘What is the
problem?’ the boy asked, ‘all I have to do is open my mouth and English comes out!’ The
boy did not understand how he was able to speak English because it was so much part of him
and his upbringing. Worldview therefore has been compared to coloured glass through which
people see themselves and the world around them (David Hesselgrave, 1978, Communicating
Christ Cross-culturally. Grand Rapids: Zondervan: 125). Everything is given the “tint” of the
particular “glass of the worldview” the person happens to be wearing.
The major challenge of this process (of enculturation) is that because we are so familiar with
particular patterns and ideas we assume that they are the best and most logical! This attitude
is known among all societies, and it is referred to as ‘ethnocentrism’, or ‘cultural pride’. “We
are all captives of the pictures in our heads” (Time Magazine, 2 December, 1985).
With this in mind, we have to note that people are reluctant to change their worldview unless
it proves totally inadequate to help them cope with their current situation. Stable, repetitive
experiences reinforce the traditional worldview. When experiences become unpredictable
according to the traditional worldview, people in that society should question the traditions of
the ancestors.
Functions of a worldview
According to David Burnett, 2002. Clash of Worlds. Mill Hill/Grand Rapids: Monarch
Books: 31-32, Worldview, a society’s basic model of reality, serves several major functions,
among them:
© SPU 2017/2018: Contact: Onesphore Ngabo – 0721-276927 – and Other UCC 101 Lecturers Page 4
