Are you aware of your own way of thinking about the world?  If you’re wondering what a “worldview” is, there’s a good chance you aren’t — and are, therefore, just using it by default.  Everyone has a worldview, and it’s helpful for us to be aware of them, so we know how we think about the world around us.  So what is a worldview?

The dictionary defines worldview as “a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world.” (Source)  The word itself provides, perhaps, a more practical definition — it’s a particular view of the world.  Or, put still another way, it’s the lens or filter through which a person views the world.

A worldview is comprised of a set of beliefs that are fundamental and wide-reaching, so that they color the way we interpret the information we take in and the situations we experience.

Who or What is God?

The most basic of these worldview-defining beliefs is the question of who or what is god?  We could put “god” in quotation marks here because, depending on which worldview we’re talking about, this might be an overt deity, or it might be a more subtle idea about who or what is the highest source of truth or authority.

• In an atheist worldview, the answer to “who or what is god?” is “nothing.” In this worldview, there is no god.
• In a humanist worldview, man is god.
• In a polytheistic or pantheistic worldview, there may be many gods.
• In a monotheistic worldview (such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam), there is one god.

Of course, within several of these there is variation.  The Christian, Muslim, and theist may all believe there is one god, but the nature and identity of the gods they each believe in will differ.

What is the Nature of Truth?

The nature of the god of a given view also leads to and interacts with another key question: what is the nature of truth?  Is truth absolute or malleable?  Or are there absolute truths and grey areas?  How do we know what is true?  How can we test a statement to see whether it’s true (or can we)?

Increasingly Smaller Details

The largest, most overaching elements of a belief system form the foundation of a given worldview.  These broader descriptions allow us to speak of worldviews on a large scale — like whole cultures and subcultures.  But an individual will hold a worldview that’s more specific than this.

Each belief that addresses an increasingly narrow range of topics hones the worldview further.

For instance, two people who believe in the God of the Christian Bible will have a certain degree of shared perspective.  But if one is a Roman Catholic who believes in the authority of Scripture plus Church tradition, while the other is a protestant who believes in the authority of Scripture alone (with tradition being subordinate), there will also be important differences in their perspectives.

A Christian and a Muslim may both believe in one god and absolute truth — but disagree about the source of truth.

Influential beliefs can be even narrower still.  Two humanists might agree on sources of truth at a basic level, but if one believes that climate change is a serious problem and the other does not, they will interpret certain news articles differently and arrive at different conclusions about what actions responsible people engage in.

Do you believe that people are basically good? That meat is murder? That abortion is murder?  That murder is wrong?  Do you believe that natural is good? Bad?  Neutral?  Do you believe in Intelligent Design, or happy little accidents?  Is there such thing as a coincidence?  Why do bad things happen to good people?

These are just a few examples of questions whose answers shape the way we see and think about the world.

Why Does Knowing My Way of Thinking Matter?

It’s beneficial to know what a worldview is — and what your own worldview is — so you can be aware when you’re talking to someone who’s using a different “lens.”  Points of agreeement are usually the most effective starting points for discussion, but it’s difficult to find them when you aren’t aware of where you and your conversation partner diverge.

It’s also helpful to simply be aware for the sake of knowing why you do what you do.  If you believe people are basically good, you will approach many situations differently than those who believe people are not basically good, if  you’re unaware of your worldview, you might not understand this difference of approach.