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Beginsels en metodes vir die bepaling van die ouderdom van hominied fossiele en hulle vindplekke
Get PDFPrinciples and methods used for the determination of the age of hominid fossils and their discovery sites Paleoanthropologists have an array of physical dating methods developed by researchers in the physical sciences. These techniques permit students of hominid evolution and associated culture to have increasing confidence that the evidence of past hominid morphology as expressed by the fossil finds is being placed in the correct chronological order. This article explains in a simple and straightforward way the evidence and logic that have led scientists to conclude that hominid fossils are not a few thousand years but at least several million years old. The main focus is on the 40Ar/ 39Ar technique, but other absolute dating techniques such as carbon-14, uranium-thorium-lead and radiocalcium are also reviewed. Relative dating methods are briefly discussed together with paleomagnetism (geomagnetism), optic stimulated luminescence and amino acids
Die biologiese evolusie van die mens: oorwegings, stand van kennis en enkele implikasies
Get PDFThe biological evolution of man: considerations, current knowledge, and some implications The biological evolution of the modern man is and remains a controversial subject. In this article, I give an overview of the most important fossil hominid finds, starting from seven million years ago. The periods of existence, relationships, similarities and differences of the Sahelanthropus, Australopithecus, Ardipithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo genera are discussed. A recently proposed alternative classification system for the hominids is also presented. The opinion is expressed that there is enough supporting evidence to accept the biological continuity between all these different life forms, and that the modern human has developed through evolution. Man, to a large extent, is governed and limited by its biological character. Man has, just like any other creature, the created ability to adapt to changes in the environment, and man is and remains a part of the creation of God, and subject to his authority
Gedenken: over de eerste en de tweede geschiedenis
Get PDFCommemoration: on the first and second history In this article a basic distinction is made between the first and the second history. The “first history” is taken as an example in which to indicate history as we experience it from within, on the basis of historical interest. The “second history” would then be history as academic professionals construct it on the basis of historical and critical research of the facts. The question that arises is: How does the historical interest that is typical of the first, lived and experienced history, relate to the historical-critical investigation of the facts that have become determinative for the second, i.e. constructed history? In the following sections I first and foremost pay attention to the human ability to commemorate; commemoration appears to be a specific expression of historical interest. Next, I make note of the difference between significant and small historical narratives and I criticise Fukuyama’s view of history. I furthermore analyse the dialogical and critical character of commemoration, describing more precisely this commemoration as an anamnetic experience. I continue by focusing on the romantic misconception of commemoration and on the crucial role of the stranger within the gates. In the following section I contrast the anamnetic and the academic history as an experienced versus a constructive history: is the latter value-free? Finally I come to the conclusion that the second history, as a historical construction, can be seen as an indispensable contribution to commemoration, i.e. to our intimate dealing with the first history
Editorial
Get PDFIt is with great pleasure that I would like to express a word of heartfelt thanks to the following people who contributed towards the publication of this tribute in recognition of the late Prof. N.T. van der Merw
Fukuyama oor sosiale kapitaal en religie
Get PDFFukuyama on social capital and religion Francis Fukuyama’s “The great disruption” deals with the deterioration of social capital, the shared values that guarantee the happiness of a community. Social dysfunction data are used to describe the disruption. According to him religion can play a role in the necessary social reconstruction, but his sociologistic interpretation of religion leads to an ambivalent description of it. From a philosophical-ethical perspective the relationship between religion and morality is scrutinised. An alternative view is presented
\u27The unmasking of modern science\u27 – the sequel (I)
Get PDFIn 1982, T.M. Moore claimed that positivism was in the process of being “unmasked”. Its shortcomings were being unmasked by its enemies as well as by its adherents. In describing the process of unmasking, Moore resorted to T.S. Kuhn’s sociological theory of normal science, paradigms, crises and revolutions. Moore then went on to challenge the Christian scholarly community to (inter alia) develop a new paradigm for science. Now, after just more than two decades have elapsed since this exhortation by Moore, a survey had to be done to see to what extent the secular as well as the Christian community has taken up the challenge and how both of them have progressed in the directions that Moore had predicted. It has also become time for the Christian community to assess its own progress towards developing a “new” scientific paradigm. In this article, the first part of a two-part article on this subject, the author concludes that modern science has not only surrendered the positivistic search for universal foundations and truth, but has become characterised by secularism, postmodern fragmentation and a preference for contingent foundations
The gospel of reconciliation and healing in the Alps: Johanna Spyri’s Heidi reconsidered
Get PDFJohanna Spyri’s renowned novel of 1880, “Heidi”, is best known internationally through countless translations, abridgements, cultural adaptations, and film adaptations since the late nineteenth century. In many of these permutations of the original German text, the fundamental Christian message has been either significantly reduced or eliminated entirely. As an active member of the Reformed Church in Zürich whose early life was influenced by Pietism, Spyri imbued many of her works for children and adults with explicitly religious dimensions. In “Heidi”, these are manifested in the protagonist’s spiritual maturation, her grandfather’s reconciliation with God and his neighbours through the parable of the prodigal son, and the restoration of health and mobility aided by Christian charity and a wholesome lifestyle. It is argued that the religious currents in “Heidi” and Spyri’s other works have been fundamentally misunderstood by earlier critics such as Wolgast and Doderer
’n Besinning oor die aard van die fisiese werklikheid
Get PDFReflections on the nature of physical reality According to T.S. Kuhn the history of a particular field of science is characterised by successive phases of problem solving, and each phase of problem solving is paradigmatically founded. A paradigm, like a worldview, expresses the deepest meaning and significance of reality. Man’s rational mind is, however, too limited in capacity to describe the complexity of reality in a scientific way. In an attempt to describe reality, reality thus has to be simplified. For instance, in order to present a description of the formation of the universe evolving from the big bang to a functional and efficient structure, the functionality as well as the structure of the universe with its billions of stars and star systems has to be simplified dramatically by an imaginative model. Such a simplified model is described by the big bang theory. Science brings to the fore questions regarding the deeper meaning and significance of reality, for instance the anthropic principle, on which only the Word of God can offer a perspective. All our observations are restrained by actualities such as finite velocity of light and our human boundness to time. Consequently, theories of evolution with an elementary beginning cannot be verified as valid and are therefore questionable. The same applies to verifying the process of evolution before man’s existence on earth. Furthermore, man can obtain no knowledge of the nature of time during God’s supernatural acts of creation as revealed by the Word of God. Nevertheless, it appears that even an idealistic theory of evolution that cannot be verified empirically can provide man with revelatory elements of God’s works, wisdom and omnipotence
Multidimensionaliteit en die multikulturele situasie
Get PDFMultidimensionality and the multicultural situation Most societies and social institutions are currently characterised by the presence of a multitude of cultures which is an indication of a multicultural situation. Two opposite reductionist proposals for dealing with this situation are those of homogenisers/ universalists and fragmentists/particularists. There is also a dualistic in-between group. The question of this article has two sides: diagnostically it asks about the nature of the reductionism of the three groups. Therapeutically the question is about the conditions for overcoming this reductionism. Diagnostically it is argued that the reductionists deal in a one-sided way with two sets of abstractions of the multicultural situation. More precisely: they do not succeed in holding simultaneously onto important dimensions like coherence and diversity, as well as universality and particularity. Therapeutically it is argued that the latter dimensions of the multicultural situation must be mutually engaged in order for them to empower one another. It is proposed that this can be accomplished by a clear distinction between universal types like culture, justice, morality and so on, and also between these types and their particular manifestations. Furthermore, reductionisms as well as the disengagements of dualism can be avoided if the relationprinciples of parataxis, complementarity and acculturation are adhered to
An epistemology of engagement
Get PDFWithin the viewpoint of representationalist epistemology it is assumed that objects can be represented in the mind or in language by rebuilding images of these objects from foundational ideas. In this article I examine the resistance to this depiction in an ongoing debate between Rorty and Taylor. Taylor argues that we should overcome the disengagement in what he sees as representationalism’s dualism of two mutually exclusive assumptions. The first assumption is the solipsist notion that our ideas can be formed without reference to the world outside the mind. According to the second tenet, however, it is paradoxically also assumed that these inner ideas are representations of the world. Because Rorty mainly targets the element of foundationalism in representationalism, he seems to argue that all we are able to know are our perspectives. I argue (in line with Taylor’s line of thought) that this view implies that Rorty leans towards solipsism and thus remains under the spell of representationalism. Taylor, on the other hand, partially accepts the strong grip of perspectives on our knowing but simultaneously devises the concept of “preunderstanding” to get beyond perspectivism. I argue that Taylor’s thinking may still leave us with a mild foundationalism. However, the holism he assumes, can be used in a re-formed way to bring us a step closer to overcoming the representationalist dualism, and to steer us in the direction of an epistemology of engagement