포스트 토대주의적인 신학의 합리성 모델에 관한 논의를 시작함에
있어서, 먼저 두 가지 논의의 차원인 인식론과 해석학을 구별할 필요가
있다. 문제의 인식론적 측면은 토대주의자들의 관심의 초점인데, 이들은
지식 자체의 개념이 논의에서 위태롭게 되는 것을 두려워 한다. 인식론
과 해석학의 관계를 개념화함에 있어서, 이들은 인식론에 특권적 위치
를 부여하며 최근의 해석학의 발전을 무시하는 경향이 있다. 반대로, 비
토대주의자들은 주제의 해석학적 측면에 초점을 맞추고 이론 정당화에
대한 근대적 접근이 유지될 수 없는 것임을 강조한다. 논의의 해석학적
차원은 어떻게 우리가 우리의 해석(또는 믿음)을 합리적인 것으로 정당
화하는가에 관한 것이다. 비토대주의에 따르면, 우리는 우리의 믿음을
정당화하기 위해서 그 믿음의‘배후’또는‘밑’으로 들어갈 수 없다. 우
리가 가진 유일한 기준은 그 믿음이 문화적으로 조건지워진 우리의 그
물망 안에서 다른 믿음들과 얼마나 정합성(coherence)을 갖는가 하는
것이다. 호이스틴과 슐츠의 포스트 토대주의 모델에 있어서 주목할 만
한 특징의 하나는 인식론과 해석학을 상호적인 관계적 통일성 안에서
연결하는 것이다.
This paper is an argument about the apologetic task of theology in
the post-modern era of this 21th century. In these days, the apologetic
task of theology not only in its relation to philosophy but also to other
sciences including human, social, and natural science becomes the
important issue of theological discussion. Especially, the concern on
the differences, complementarities, and consonances in the relation
between theology and natural science provides motives for the
concept of post-foundationalism, which is the main thrust of this
paper. The most fundamental problem of the epistemological and
hermeneutical discourse in the post-modern era, however, is that on
the characteristics of the rationality of theology itself. In this connection,
this paper is focused on the concept of post-f o u n d a t i o nalism:
post-foundationalistic theology represents the ideal model of
rationality which criticizes both the modern epistemological model of
theological rationality(foundationalism) and the negative side of the
p o s t-modern hermeneutical model(non-foundationalism), and
sublates them synthetically.
P o s t-foundationalism attempts to develop a model for the
rationality of theology as ‘via media’ between foundationalistic
dogmatism and non-foundationalistic relativism. That is, postfoundationalistic
model of theological rationality seeks the possibilities
for the ‘middle way’ in order to overcome the dilemmas
between absolute foundation of truth and relativity of truth, between
universal reason of the individual and proper forms of rationality in
each community, between explanation in the universal dimension and
understanding in the particular context. This paper performs the
inquiry about the problem of theological rationality focused of the
theological model of post-foundationalism with reference to two
contemporary theologian, that is, J. Wentzel van Huyssteen and F.
LeRon Shults.
Against foundationalistic objectivism and non-f o u n d a t i o n a l i s t
relativism, according to van Huyssteen, post-foundationalistic theology,
on the one hand. fully recognizes contextuality, the important
epistemological role of interpreted experience, and the way in which
traditions form the epistemological and non-epistemological values
and, on the other hand, tries to proceed toward the inter-disciplinary
dialogue beyond the limit of local community, group, and culture.
P o s t-foundationalists accept the challenges of post-modernity, but
they do not give up the idea of truth, advance, and reasion but try to
refigure it. In this sense, post-foundationalism is not deconstructive
but reconstructive. In other words, post-foundationalists understand
the relation between modernity and post-modernity not in terms of
antagonistic polarity or alternative option but in terms of dialects.
They accept the post-modernism which exams the presuppositions of
Enlightenment and modern foundationalism thoroughly, but they
reject the non-foundationalistic relativism which is one stream of
post-modernism.