Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept [Paperback]

James W. Sire (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2004

What is a worldview? What lies behind your thoughts about almost everything? For more than thirty years, James W. Sire has grappled with this issue. In this book he offers readers his most mature thought on the concept of a worldview, addressing such questions as

• What is the history of the concept itself?
• What is the first question you should ask in formulating a worldview?
• How are worldviews formed existentially as well as intellectually?
• Is a worldview primarily an intellectual system, a way of life or a story?
• What are the public and private dimensions of a worldview?
• What role can worldview thinking play in assessing your own worldview and those of others, especially in light of the pluralism in today's world?

In his widely used textbook The Universe Next Door, first published in 1976, Sire offered a succinct definition of a worldview and catalogued in summary fashion seven basic worldview alternatives. Students, critics, new literature and continued reflection have led him to reexamine and refine his definition of a worldview. This companion volume to The Universe Next Door is the fruit of that effort. Here is an excellent resource for exploring more deeply how and why worldview thinking can aid you in navigating your pluralistic universe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sire, who as an InterVarsity Press editor and author of The Universe Next Door helped introduce Christian college students to "worldview," revisits the subject with a more technical approach that sacrifices the essential simplicity of the earlier work. The title refers to the story of a father asked to explain what holds up the world. Eventually he chooses "the biggest animal he could think of and put a capital on it... 'It's an Elephant... it's Elephant all the way down.' " Like the Elephant, a worldview is expected to answer big questions about "the basic makeup of our world," and is likely "brought to mind only when we are challenged by a foreigner from another ideological universe." Sire notes that such challenges are mounting in our increasingly pluralistic world, even though the basic menu of worldview options remains mostly unchanged from a generation ago, with the (grudgingly acknowledged) addition of postmodernism. In defining the concept of worldview, Sire goes beyond his earlier treatment of worldviews as "answers to a systematic set of questions" to consider other possibilities. A worldview can also take the form of a story, a way of life, a pre-theoretical intuition or a pattern of actions. Such alternatives promote a nuanced appreciation of worldviews, and of the serious difficulty in communicating across worldview frontiers. But for all these refinements, Sire's message remains basically the same: Christians tend to have Christian beliefs, and others tend not to.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 163 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (May 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 083082779X
• ISBN-13: 978-0830827794
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James W. Sire (Ph.D., University of Missouri), formerly a senior editor at InterVarsity Press, is an active speaker and writer. He has taught English, philosophy, theology, and short courses at many universities and seminaries. He continues to be a frequent guest lecturer in the United States and Europe. His InterVarsity Press books and Bible studies include The Universe Next Door (a worldviews textbook), Scripture Twisting, Discipleship of the Mind, Chris Chrisman Goes to College, Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?, Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling, Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept, Learning to Pray Through the Psalms, Why Good Arguments Often Fail and A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Foundational Book, July 2, 2007

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emmauseagle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept (Paperback)

Sire's concept of worldview is that it is a set of presuppositions that are more or less consistent with each other. These presuppositions are our primary foundational commitments. This means that we have no rational reason for holding these beliefs. If we had a rational reason for these beliefs, the rational reason would be the true primary foundational commitment (unless it had a rational reason). These presuppositions are the reasons (whether rational or not) for all our other beliefs.

Sire believes that a worldview covers seven distinct areas of belief. The first area on his list deals with prime reality which means God, gods, and/or matter. He defines the second area as dealing with the reality (the real world) around (or outside of) us and our relationship to it. Humanity is the third area in Sire's scheme of World View. Sire asks, "What is a human being?" He also uses the concept of death as his fourth area. Every person has some presupposition about what happens to a person at (or after) death. The fifth essential commitment in one's worldview raises the question as to whether it is possible for anything to truly be known. Related to this is the presupposition concerning right and wrong. This area deals with one's ability to know right and wrong and how one determines right and wrong. The meaning (or lack of meaning) of human history is the final component of one's worldview. These seven primary foundational commitments work together to form every other belief and thought that one has.

The one negative this book has is that it seems a bit too western. One would almost get the idea that philosophy and worldview as a concept did not exist outside of the west.

12 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Apologetic of Worldview, November 30, 2004

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rodboomboom (Dearborn, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept (Paperback)

Philosophy and theology is what is written about here. The two have always been interlinked by cultures.

Here Sire expands on his previous work "The Universe Next Door" where in the modern world of the religions being more universal in scope he presents his additional thinking on the subject.

Certainly this can be beneficial in several senses. First, for the Christian one can gain insight into the consistency of one's own worldview. What I mildly object to is the sense that one's behavior overall speaks of one's worldview. According to Romans 7, then this is impossible consistenly. Second and more importantly, apologetically speaking this is of value is helping Christians speak of worldview in case of discussing with other worldviews.

All this needs tempering with the Biblical truth that no one will be argued into the faith, either philosophically or worldview speaking. The Spirit must teach the truth or no penetration will succeed, no matter how good the worldview is.

He has good biographical sources cited, especially would this reviewer suggest Nancy Pearcy's book "Total Truth."

10 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can deny it but we all have a worldview., March 6, 2006

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Enigma "Cheers" (Washington, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept (Paperback)

It doesn't matter who you are, what your background is, or what your religion is. You have a worldview. You may not have specifically thought about it, you may not even realize it but you have one and it effects how you view events and then how you react to those events.

I have realized this for many years and have spoken to many people and I find it most interesting that those who have some of the most dogmatic worldviews refuse to believe that they have any worldviews at all.

Although there are many different worldviews I break them down into two main branches.

1 Ontologically Based Worldviews (Ontology precedes epistemology)

2 Epistemologically Based Worldviews. (Epistemology precedes ontology)

I had thought that I had been a original thinker many times wondering if I should write a book espousing my beliefs and illuminating the world into a new area of thought only to find out that it has already been done. Oh well, at least I can say that I am wholeheartedly endorse this book.

I don't want to have any plot spoilers here but it is well worth the ten bucks for the pure synaptic enjoyment and mental debates you will have. Kudos Mr. Sire for a job well done.