Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages.

Page 1
VOLLENHOVEN NEWSLETTER
D.H.Th. VOLLENHOVEN FOUNDATION

Editor: Anthony Tol (Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Editorial Committee: Kornelis A. Bril, secretary (Free University, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands; retired), John H. Kok (Dordt College, Sioux Center, USA),
Robert S. Sweetman (Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, Canada)

No. 3, September 2007


In this issue


From the editor

Guest lectures of Vollenhoven on DVDs and CDs;
K.A. Bril

H.G. Stokers correspondence with Dooyeweerd
and Vollenhoven; E.A. de Boer

A seminar at the ICS in Toronto; J.H. Kok
and
A participants response; R.S. Sweetman

The Vollenhoven Archives; K.A. Bril

Vollenhoven as I remember him; A. Tol

Appendix: Books and articles related to
Vollenhoven



Further information

This Newsletter also appears on the Vollenhoven
website of the Centre for Reformational Philosophy
[Centrum voor Reformatorische Wijsbegeerte]
www.aspecten.org

D.H.Th. Vollenhoven Foundation
Dr. K.A. Bril, secretary, Belle van Zuylenlaan 32, 1183
EJ Amstelveen, The Netherlands, (e) ka.bril@planet.nl

The Vollenhoven Foundation [Stichting D.H.Th. Vol-
lenhoven] is registered with the Chamber of Commerce
of Amsterdam, registration number: S 41216967. Gifts
or donations for the Foundation are tax deductible.
Bank connection of the Foundation: ABN AMRO Bank
NV, The Netherlands; account nr. 48.91.81.694.
Residents of Canada or the United States can forward
gifts, marked "Vollenhoven Foundation", to Dr. John
H. Kok, Dordt College, 498 Fourth Ave. N.E., Sioux
Center, Iowa 51250, USA.
Vollenhoven Newsletter
A. Tol, editor, c/o Free University, Philosophy De-
partment, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam,
The Netherlands, (e) a.tol@ph.vu.nl
Design: De Zaak Haes (www.zaakhaes.nl)


From the editor


This issue of the Vollenhoven Newsletter
brings the reader up-to-date on develop-
ments in Vollenhoven studies.

The books by and on Vollenhoven that were
published under the auspices of the Vol-
lenhoven Foundation was a major undertak-
ing. In the last issue (No. 2) they were an-
nounced and explained in detail. (In the
appendix to this Newsletter there is a list of
titles that includes this material.)
We are pleased to add that, after the
last issue was distributed, the Vollenhoven
foundation received generous additional fi-
nancial support from the Association under
whose auspices the Free University operates,
in particular from its subcommittee responsi-
ble for allotting subsidies. The Vollenhoven
Foundation is grateful for this support, which
was given in particular towards meeting the
costs of the volume D.H.Th. Vollenhoven,
De Probleem-historische Methode en de Geschiedenis
van de Wijsbegeerte, red. K.A. Bril (Amstelveen:
De Zaak Haes, 2005; ISBN-10: 90 77157 03
4).

The former numbers of the Vollenhoven
Newsletters may be consulted on the website
of the Centre for Reformational Philosophy.
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 2
Please note that the address of the Centres
website is now: www.aspecten.org . In ac-
cessing the sites material, one needs to
choose the Nederlands option to get to the
Vollenhoven material and the Vollenhoven
Newsletters.

Recently new Vollenhoven material has be-
come available on CD and DVD. In the
early 1960s Vollenhoven made a lecture tour
of South Africa. Almost all the lectures were
taped. This audio-material had become diffi-
cult to access on account of the outdated
technology needed to operate the tapes. Kor
Bril has a report on this material in this
Newsletter.
South Africa also brings H.G. Stoker
into the picture. Dr. Erik de Boer, a Dutch
theologian and church historian, is collecting
and researching Stokers correspondence
with Dutch Christian thinkers. He has a
report.

On the first day of spring of this year, a sem-
inar was held at the Institute for Christian
Studies in Toronto that centred on Vol-
lenhovens work. John Kok of Dordt Col-
lege led a discussion of Vollenhovens work.
His report, and some material used, are in
this Newsletter. Bob Sweetman, one of the
attendants of the seminar, gave his impres-
sion for the Newsletter, which is appended to
John Koks report.


Kor Bril and myself had a look at the Vol-
lenhoven Archives. We saw where the boxes
are stored, and we were able to investigate
some of the physical contents of the boxes.
Kor Bril has a report about this visit.

Finally, I wish to call attention to a book,
edited by Bob Sweetman, that has recently
appeared. It is entitled In the Phrygian Mode.
Neo-Calvinism, Antiquity and the Lamentations of
Reformed Philosophy (Institute for Christian
Studies and University Press of America,
2007; LCCN 2007921349). The chapters of
this book are based on material that served as
papers for a small scholarly conference, held
in Toronto in the summer of 1995. In the
book one finds discussions of prominent
neo-Calvinist intellectuals, in particular their
relations and attitudes to the legacy of classi-
cal antiquity. As is to be expected, Vollenho-
vens name occurs throughout the book. My
own contribution if I may specifically refer
to this focuses on Vollenhovens problem-
historical approach to early ancient philoso-
phy. Seeing this work in print (or was it the
relief of its not having come to grief?)
brought on memories of how intertwined my
learning ancient philosophy was with a deep-
ening understanding of Vollenhovens
thought. This Newsletter ends with memo-
ries of those unique years that I was an assis-
tant of Vollenhoven.

Tony Tol



Guest lectures of Vollenhoven on DVDs
and CDs


In the 1950s and early 1960s, before interna-
tional contacts were a common phenome-
non, it was of special significance when a
professor of the Free University received an
invitation to give guest lectures abroad. In
July 1963 Dr. and Mrs. Vollenhoven boarded
a passenger ship to South Africa. Vollenho-
ven had been invited to give guest lectures
there, which he held between 1 August and
20 September 1963. He gave a total of 24
lectures (in Dutch). It was a busy time for
Vollenhoven. A month after his return, he
gave his farewell lecture in the
Woestduincentrum in Amsterdam. In
Philosophia Reformata, 1963, p. 114, he re-
marks, in reference to his farewell lecture: I
had to write the lecture during my trip to
South Africa and my stay there.
The South Africa lectures were taped
on material that is now out-dated. The tapes
were given to me in 1968 or thereabouts by
staff members of the University of
Potchefstroom (PU for Christian Higher
Education), 2 large reels and two smaller
sized. Three of these are of the kind Agfa
Magnetophonbanden PE 41, Doppelspiel
Band double play tape. The two large
reels are about 17 cm. in diameter, tape
length 720 metres, and one smaller reel,
about 12 cm. in diameter, with a tape length
of 360 metres. The fourth tape is a BASF
Magnetophonband, Dreifachspielband, 12
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 3
cm diameter, 540 metre tape length. In total
2340 metres of tape!
This spring the content of the tapes
was transferred to current technology by Mr
L. de Vries in Amstelveen (locally known as
second organist of the Protestant Bankras-
kerk in Amstelveen). De Vries transferred
the content of the four tapes to three DVDs,
and also placed the same material in com-
pressed form, *.mp3, on two CDs. The
fourth tape, which had been thought to be
empty, turned out to have material. In the
new format one should be able to play both
versions on a personal computer. If a per-
sonal computer can handle a DVD, the CD
will also work.
The total sound track is more than
18 hours. De Vries, who was a sound tech-
nician at the Fokker Airplane Factories be-
fore his retirement, retrieved the sound by
using recorders with different speeds. Also
he filtered out high and low sounding back-
ground noise with specialized software pro-
grams. He put his experience as technician
to good use. Parts that are silent (sometimes
exceeding two minutes) have been reduced in
length. An assistants countdowns at the
start of a lecture have been deleted.
After listening to fragments at De
Vries home and later privately, I am pleased
to announce that the sound, due to the tech-
nical working over, is surprisingly good, es-
pecially in light of the age of the original
material (more than 40 years old), and com-
pared to what the sound was like using the
older hardware.
De Vries put in more than three full
days of work, yet he only charged the Vol-
lenhoven Foundation for the material costs
incurred. The Foundation gratefully appreci-
ates the effort he put into this service and the
beautiful result. The audible lectures of Vol-
lenhoven are now saved for posterity in an
accessible form.

De Vries organized the lectures on the basis
of the internal evidence and placed them in
sections. When the speaker says: Ladies
and Gentlemen, the topic for this mornings
lecture is then clearly a new lecture be-
gins.
The first tape contains the an-
nouncement of the lectures in the South
African language (00), and lectures placed in
10 sections (01-10). The second tape has
sections 01-11, the third tape sections 01-03,
and the fourth tape has a presentation, in-
cluding dictated corrections, which has been
divided into two sections 01-02. Hence there
are a total of 27 sections. The sections have
been given titles, such as Fundamental
thoughts, Evolutionism, Witnessing in
science, Philosophy and theology, Psychol-
ogy and anthropology, The Ideal of Chris-
tian science, Early Christian thought, Ra-
tionalism, Irrationalism, and Farewell lec-
ture.

In 1970 and 1971 the Philosophy Faculty of
the Free University had the lectures typed out
provisionally. We thank Dr. J. Santema, Ms.
Christien Bremen (deceased) and Ms. J. Leer-
ling for their efforts, which yielded a total of
198 folio sized pages. The secretaries had to
work with the impediment of not being ac-
quainted with Vollenhovens technical termi-
nology. Also they could not always under-
stand what was spoken due to the poor re-
ception of the sound. This led to mistakes,
such as typing Rhinoceros for Hermo-
timus. I reported on this material at the time
in K.A. Bril, Tien jaar probleemhistorische methode;
bibliografie en overzichten over de jaren 1960-1970
(Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit, 1971), p. 8.
The typed version can now, finally,
be properly edited. It can be scanned and
compared with the CD version, enabling an
editor to correct, supplement and annotate
the text. In this way the lectures may as yet
appear in published form, perhaps even
translated.
The original material will in time be
deposited in the Vollenhoven Archives that
are kept in the Historical Documentation
Centre of the Free University.

K.A. Bril


H.G. Stokers correspondence with
Dooyeweerd and Vollenhoven


Prof. dr. Hendrik G. Stoker was the South-
African discussion partner in the develop-
ment of the Calvinistic Philosophy. His earli-
est letter to Vollenhoven, written from Ger-
many where he studied with Max Scheler, is
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 4
from 1922. Stoker's son, Pieter, kindly grant-
ed me access to his archive and permission to
investigate his correspondence.
The undersigned, Dr. Erik A. de Boer
(Zeist, the Netherlands), a systematic theolo-
gian and church historian, is preparing an
edition of Stoker's correspondence with the
philosophers Dooyeweerd and Vollenhoven
and with the second generation philosophers
they inspired.
To date I have collected 74 letters, which
Stoker wrote to or received from Vollenho-
ven and Dooyeweerd (also from the HDC
Free University), and found some letters to
K.J. Popma, S.U. Zuidema, C.A. van
Peursen, J.P.A. Mekkes and N.J. Hommes
and also to his American colleagues, C. van
Til and H. Evan Runner. If any reader of the
Vollenhoven Newsletter has knowledge of or
access to any further correspondence, I (or
the editor of the newsletter) will be pleased to
hear from her or him.

E.A. de Boer




A seminar at the ICS in Toronto


On Wednesday morning 21 March 2007, all the senior members and a good number of junior
members at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto met for a two-hour discussion of Vol-
lenhovens problem-historic method led by Dr. John H. Kok, Professor of Philosophy and Dean
for the Humanities at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, USA.
To set the table, Kok first reviewed some of the similarities and differences between Vollenho-
ven and Dooyeweerd and then, leaning heavily on a handout of quotations taken from Kor Brils
Vollenhovens Problem-Historical Method: Introduction and Explanations (Dordt College Press, 2005), gave
a brief synopsis of the mainstays of Vollenhovens historiographic approach to the history of phi-
losophy.



First, the distinctions type and time current
Type: Every type concerns an interpretation of the created cosmos and, in that sense, of inter-
preted factsthe relationship between matter, life, and the soul; whether nature and humans are
determined or free; and how humans and animals are related. In short, a type pertains to ontolo-
gy.
Time current: A time-current pertains to the foundation of human knowledge (a priori or not), to
what in a general sense is considered normative, as well as the question of good and evil, and to
criteria for sound science. Within a certain time-current, one type or a complex of types can be
dominant. Bril, p. 85.












Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 5
Then: A Survey of the Five Main Typological Categories

a philosophical conception deals with two main problems: the position of the law and the ver-
tical structure of the kingdoms. . . . I [now] wish to say something about the second question.
This question implies several different things.
[A] In the first place one must consider whether someone has approached the intended structure
via myth, or whether one has considered structure (while rejecting myth as a source of philosophy)
in a cosmogonic-cosmological or purely-cosmological way.
[B] Furthermore there is the question of dualism and monism. In other words, one can think
that everything is based on the eternal correlation of the transcendent and the nontranscendent,
such that any unity must be explained in connection to these two categories with the result that
unity is derivative. Alternatively, one can postulate that everything is at bottom a unity and conse-
quently that any difference must be ascribed to divergence.
[C] In the third place there is the problem of the vertical relationship, in dualism between the
transcendent and the nontranscendent, and in monism between the higher and lower species of the
original unity.
[D] Finally we must determine the site within which a dualist posits the boundary between the
transcendent and the nontranscendent, and in which the monist posits the single origin of every-
thing. (59a43-44) Conservatisme en progressiviteit in de wijsbegeerte, pp. 41-54.

And then, as Kor Bril writes: Within each type of monism and dualism, Vollenhoven asked: is
the nature of realitymonistically or dualistically conceived, as the case may beborne only by
individuals, or is it borne by a universal whole, or is it shared by individuals and the universal whole
alike? Vollenhoven called these three options individualism, universalism, and partial-universalism,
respe ctively. In connection with the last two, mysticism can occur, p. 55. Vollenhovens Problem-
Historical Method: Introduction and Explanations (Dordt College Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-932914-60-6).



In an attempt to convey the real life sense of Vollenhovens efforts, Kok also gave a playful chalk-
board rendering of Brils portrayal of the historical similarities and differences to which Vollenho-
ven was seeking to be sensitive (cf. p. 33).
Shifting gears, Kok asked: But where did this historiographic method come from? What pos-
sessed this well-read, devout, neo-Kuyperian philosopher to try and chart the entire history of phi-
losophy? Kok explained that this (most recent, post-1949) manifestation of Vollenhovens prob-
lem-historic methodology is only one of many earlier attempts all of which were rooted in a long-
standing desire/attempt on his part to develop a philosophy and historiographic framework that is
in line with the basic themes of a reformed understanding of Scripture and creation. Kok sought to
illustrate this explanation on both a systematic and historical basis.
Although structure and direction are two well-known coordinates in reformational philoso-
phyinfluentially highlighted by Al WoltersVollenhoven always worked with a third:
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 6



genesis. Structure for Vollenhoven, briefly put, has to do with regularity (wetmatigheid) and the
creational law holding for . . . (whatever it be). Direction for Vollenhoven has to do with listening
to and seeking to obey Gods Word: Love me! and your neighbor! Genesis for Vollenhoven has
to do with the fact that most every state of affairs is party to a course of affairs. Kok suggested that
Vollenhovens three basic (to use a term from Cal Seerveldfrom years ago, and to which he today
adds more nuancebad neighborhood) historiographic categories derive from (as aberra-
tions/absolutizations of) these three (creaturely) realities. Mythologizing thinkers have an ear for reli-
gious direction and the word revelation (narratives) of gods who are not the God of scripture. The
rest (given Vollenhovens tight binary logic) are nonmythologizing (little room for any word-
revelation) thinkers, who are for the most part either obsessed with (purely cosmological) structure
or with (cosmogonic-cosmological) genesis.
In terms of Vollenhovens own development, Kok turned first to Vollenhovens Calvinism and
the Reformation of Philosophy, published in 1933, to illustrate his long-standing resolve to classify the
different [philosophical] systems according to the answers they give to precisely formulated and
well-arranged [classificatory] questions [that are]. . . fruits of a scriptural thinking. . . .



From Calvinism and the Reformation of Philosophy:
it would not do to omit the summary of the main content of Scripture here, for there is such
a danger that we forget these basic thoughts [/33a48] when directing our attention to the confusing
variety of philosophic theories. And many who were Calvinists in their dogmatics went awry in
philosophicis.
Why is it that this pattern repeated itself time and again?
FOR A LARGE PART IT WAS BECAUSE PEOPLE TRUSTED CURRENT PHILOSOPHY
TOO MUCH AND DID NOT SEE THE DEEP CHASM THAT BY VIRTUE OF PRINCIPLE AND
HISTORY DIVIDES IT FROM A CHILD-LIKE FAITH.
If this is to change in the future, we must first realize that we lack a classification, befitting our
view, of the basic themes of nonscriptural philosophy.
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 7
Consequently, there is no other way than to classify the different systems according to the an-
swers they give to precisely formulated and well-arranged questions.
People might very well object that the results to which this method leads will bear all too much
the stamp of the person posing the questions.
However, two things can be said in response. First, this objection is not as large as one thinks: a
clear survey from a specific attitude is better than an enumeration of problems and solutions with-
out perspective. And secondly, one should keep in mind that not every position is of equal, be it
more or less, value, as the relativists claim: when the classificatory questions are fruits of a scriptural
thinking, the classification obtained on the basis of answers given to these questions also offers the
needed guarantee of being objectively grounded. Hence, I indulge the hope that the result to which
I came may also prove useful to people other than those who are my partners in principle. . . .
[33a50//]



Kok closed his remarks by illustrating Vollenhovens (1921) desire to get beyond just setting princi-
ple over against principle as well as his (early) sense of appreciation for those who did respectable
philosophic work, even when it was antithetical to his own principles.



Likewise, this book is a tight, logical whole, which given its Hegelian standpoint comes as no
surprise.
Moreover, I will add this: I heartily recommend this book for careful study because many of
its numerous distinctions attend to actual differences, and in doing so provide insight. For in every
consequence something always fascinates, namely, the very revelation of logical thought-power.
In addition to this, shall we say, aesthetic delightthat we enjoy when taking in any edifice
erected in a consistently implemented stylethere is still another reason for seriously studying the-
se kinds of books. In doing so, one forces oneself to study them in a principled manner: by tracing
apparently attractive results back to definitely unacceptable theses, by moving from the fruit to the
root. And that will benefit the practice of our education: even though one will be wise to incorpo-
rate specific element, free from their methodical connection, into ones own system, one will be
able to avoid the danger of slavishly following an erroneous method. The reverse is also true: we
will become jealous, in the good sense of the word, of how those on the other side work out their
principles, and we will try to close the gap in this regard. This work will teach us that we can no
longer make do with setting principle over against principle; we also have to set insight over against
insight, method over against method.
D.H.Th. Vollenhoven, in a book review, Hegel op onze lagere scholen? 1921(c78-79)



A lively discussion ensued. Senior Member Nik Ansell reported that, in his view, this was one of
the most successful and valuable sessions they have had for some time!

John H. Kok

A participants response: Bob Sweetman
There was a good percentage of our own ICS students in attendance at the symposium led by
John Kok on Vollenhovens thought. But the day was made by John's deep desire for a good phil-
osophical conversation around Vollenhoven and the willingness of Lambert Zuidervaart, Nik An-
sell, Cal Seerveld, Jim Olthuis and myself to spend the time to have that conversation with him.
We all talked about what we got out of Vollenhoven's thought and approach to the history of phi-
losophy and where we either did not understand his intent or found his thought or approach limit-
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 8
ing or problematic. We shared with each other how we approach the conundra we were hearing
from each other. I would guess that we all learned a thing or two from each other in the course of
about a three hour conversation. It was the sort of conversation that reminded both the active
participants and the audients the joys and stimulus that are to be had by those who acknowledge
the traditioned character of theoretical culture and so who seek to work through their own projects
and callings, to address contemporary interlocutors, but to do so in relation to a tradition's found-
ing voices.




The Vollenhoven Archives in the HDC of
the Free University


Some time after Dr. Vollenhovens death in
1978, the Vollenhoven family donated his
extensive archives to the Vollenhoven Foun-
dation. The archives are deposited in the
Historical Documentation Centre for Dutch
Protestantism (1800-present), abbreviated
HDC, which also regulates their use. The
archives are kept deep in the catacombs of
the main building (Hoofdgebouw) of the
Free University, where temperature and hu-
midity are carefully monitored. Dr. John
Kok of Dordt College gave the archives their
first provisional organization. Dr. J. Stel-
lingwerff gave the archives their present lay-
out in 1991-1992, which served as basis for
his biography, D.H.Th. Vollenhoven Reformator
der Wijsbegeerte (Baarn: Ten Have, 1992). The
material is kept in 109 archive boxes, occupy-
ing about sixteen and a half metres of shelf
space. An inventory of the Vollenhoven
Archives (registered as number 405) is acces-
sible via internet. The website of the HDC is
www.hdc.vu.nl ; that of the Vollenhoven
archives is www.hdc.vu.nl/hdc/archief/htm .

The archives are divided in five main sec-
tions, with a supplement added in 2007. I
will indicate something of the contents of the
first three.

A. Letters, drafts, notes and documents
These are in the boxes 1- 32. Here one finds
the correspondence with the well-known
schoolteacher, A. Janse (cf. Stellingwerff, op.
cit., p. 261). This correspondence began
when Vollenhoven had settled in Oost-
kapelle, as local minister for the Reformed
church, immediately after his promotion and
received a letter from Janse about his very
difficult dissertation of 1918, entitled (in
translation), The Philosophy of Mathematics from a
Theistic Standpoint (box 4). One finds this
correspondence in the boxes 4 (1919) to16
(1939). In cooperation with the Janse family,
the letters of both correspondents are now in
the HDC. Almost none of this correspond-
ence has been published.
One also finds a copy of a typescript
by H. Dooyeweerd on the law-idea (1926-
1927) (box 6). There are also Vollenhovens
Notes on anhypostatos and Report on the
union of the natures of Christ (cf. Stel-
lingwerff, op. cit., pp. 110, 131, 138, 142, 146-
148). The latter two pieces reflect the con-
cern at the time, when Vollenhoven was
accused by members of the Theology Faculty
of departing from orthodox doctrine (when
in fact he departed from a dogmatic scholas-
tic tradition; cf. D.H.Th. Vollenhoven,
Wijsgerig Woordenboek, ed. by K.A. Bril (Am-
stelveen: De Zaak Haes, 2000), pp. 35, 174,
Hepp). In box 26 one finds Questions of
evolution, 1961 and Problem of time, 1964-
1968.

B. Lecture notes, articles and books by Vol-
lenhoven
These are found in the boxes 32-56. The
first three contain Vollenhovens High
school notes and Notes as student at the
Free University. Of interest is lecture mate-
rial by J. Woltjer, who was Vollenhovens
teacher at the time, and his View of matter.
Then there are Vollenhovens own lecture
notes of courses on theory of knowledge,
logic, subjectivism, etc. Lecture notes of the
privatissima (private lectures) Vollenhoven
gave after retiring in 1963 are in box 46 (cf.
also box 48). Then there is a letter To the
church board, written by Vollenhoven and
Dooyeweerd, in which they try to prevent the
threatening church split, which became a fact
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 9
in 1944; also Vollenhovens Faith: its nature,
structure and value. Of interest are also the
boxes of galley proofs of the articles for the
Oosthoeks Encyclopedie. This may contain ma-
terial that the editor of the Encyclopaedia at
the time had misplaced, as described in the
recent republication of these articles in
D.H.Th. Vollenhoven, Wijsgerig Woordenboek,
red. K.A. Bril (Amstelveen: De Zaak Haes,
2005).

C. Largely random notes, boxes 57-88.
They contain, among other things, Notes
about time (1960) and Notes and lectures
(1939) about philosophy and theology.
For a further indication of the content of the
Archives, I refer to the website mentioned
above.

A surprising find
This last spring Tol and I visited the Archives
on behalf of the Vollenhoven Foundation. I
perused the material of Box 31, and found
something with the surprising title Draft for
a last article, 1974. Vollenhoven wanted to
give an overview of the positions of Stoker,
Taljaard, Van Til, Runner, Kuyper, Bavinck,
Dooyeweerd, also Janses The human being
as living soul and finally that of his own
anthropology, each position illuminated
against the background of the distinctions of
his problem-historical method. We also find
Vollenhovens final interpretation of
Dooyeweerd here. Vollenhoven started to
lecture on this material on 23 April 1975.
But it turned out to be his last lecture due to
a rapid decline of his capacities. In K.A. Bril,
Vollenhovens laatste werk 1970-1975 (Amster-
dam: VU Boekhandel, 1982) I made the at-
tempt to reconstruct what Vollenhoven had
in mind for the remaining lectures, based on
text fragments and remarks made at the time.
It is clear to me now, 25 years later, that this
box 31 contains important supplementary
material. Stellingwerff too made use of this
material in the biography mentioned above
(cf. pp. 247-250 and p. 257, notes 5 and 8).
In the edition of the Vollenhovens
Schematische Kaarten. Filosofische concepties in
probleemhistorisch verband (Amstelveen: De
Zaak Haes, 2000) prepared by P.J. Boonstra
and myself, I added notes on A. Kuyper, H.
Bavinck, and Vollenhovens final view of
Dooyeweerds thought; cf. p. 121, note 1,
together with chart 49; p. 77, note 8, with
chart 51; and p. 92, note 11, with chart 52a.

The above shows that there is intriguing
material for further study of Vollenhoven.
The space where the boxes are stored is itself
not open to the public. All material one
wishes to investigate is retrieved upon re-
quest.

K.A. Bril



Vollenhoven as I remember him


I first saw Vollenhoven in the fall of 1966. It
was a few weeks after I arrived in Amsterdam
to pursue my graduate studies in philosophy
at the Free University. I recognized him
from the photograph Evan Runner had
shown members of his Groen Club in Grand
Rapids, Michigan. It was the photograph
that appeared in Perspectief, a book published
by the Association for Reformational [then: Cal-
vinistic] Philosophy on the occasion of its 25
th

anniversary in 1961. For some reason I
hadnt expected him to be as short as he was.
He was about 5 4 if that.
The occasion was the philosophy
facultys opening meeting of the academic
year. Staff and students, old and new, were
given the chance to meet. Johan Van der
Hoeven, one of the four newly appointed
successors of Vollenhoven, gave a talk on the
notion of an event in Whitehead -- an appe-
tizer for his graduate lectures that were to be
on Whitehead. The fact that Vollenhoven
was present was a surprise to me. He had
retired in 1963. But, as I soon got to know,
he had kept contact with the faculty by giving
so-called private lectures (privatissima) once
a month, and continued to do that, so it
turned out, until the fall of 1975. In that
sense his presence was easily explained.
His presence at this opening session
was illuminating for me in another way.
After Van der Hoeven had completed his
talk, Vollenhoven was one of the first to
respond. He gave, extemporaneously, a
background historical sketch of Whiteheads
occasionalism, using the terminology of his
problem-historical method. While he talked I
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 10
noticed a distinct rise in the shuffling and
whisperings of the audience, signs of annoy-
ance, for they were not able to follow what
Vollenhoven was saying. For me, Vollenho-
ven had a standing that made me want to
listen, all the more so this being the first time
I heard him speak. But the majority of the
audients were evidently not like-minded.
Vollenhovens words did not land. Van der
Hoeven took most of what Vollenhoven said
as information.
When the session was over, I was in-
troduced to Vollenhoven. In my broken
Dutch I plucked up the courage to ask an
academic question, namely whether some
conceptions within the types he distinguished
in his method (which I had gotten to know
via Runner) were more Christian than oth-
ers. I recall his response distinctly: In some
types thinkers are more willing to listen to
the Scriptures than in other types. This was
food for thought. Not Christian philoso-
phy is the key notion, but listening to the
Scriptures. I should then have asked which
types that would be. But he had said it in a
manner almost defensive, that did not invite
further discussion. Perhaps the meeting had
been unsettling for him, putting him on his
guard. I resolved to attend the privatissima,
and there Vollenoven was more relaxed.
Only a handful attended Vollenho-
vens private lectures. He had been a popular
teacher before the war. After the war he
became more and more engrossed in his
problem-historical work. He began to use
the methods terminology freely, but only a
few were in a position to follow his train of
thought. During the privatissima he took the
occasion to report on the further develop-
ment of the problem-historical method and
the treatment of thinkers and themes in
terms of that method. His text was all writ-
ten out long hand, which he dictated to us in
a pace too rapid to keep up. This had been
his lecturing habit since 1926. (As a result
there are a lot of his handwritten lecture
notes in the Vollenhoven archives.) It took
us attendants a while to get smart. The fran-
tic writing left little time to reflect, while
Vollenhoven did welcome questions and
discussion. We finally got Vollenhoven to
agree to our taping the sessions. We then
typed out the lectures, aided by a photocopy
of Vollenhovens own notes. Kor Bril, also a
regular attendant, published these lecture
notes in his Vollenhovens laatste werk, 1970-
1975 [Vollenhovens Last Work] (1982)
My relation to Vollenhoven became
more personal upon becoming his student
assistant in 1970, a position vacated by Sand-
er Griffioen. The faculty supported Vol-
lenhoven in his continuing academic work,
despite his retirement, by offering him the
use of a student assistance, though it was
only a minimum of four hours a week. Every
Tuesday I went to his home in Amstelveen
(just south of Amsterdam) to put in my four
hours. On my first day he asked if he could
call me by my first name. This was unusual,
for the relation of professor to assistant gen-
erally remained formal. But Vollenhoven did
not want to be formal in the environment of
his home. I was delighted; and no, I didnt
call him Dick but addressed him as pro-
fessor (which has a higher standing in the
Dutch situation than in the English speaking
world). Anything less would have been un-
couth. It was still the time (soon to change)
that students were expected to wear a coat
and tie when attending lectures.
Initially my main tasks were borrow-
ing and returning books from the libraries of
the Free University and the Municipal Uni-
versity of Amsterdam and attending to his
card system. His card system consisted of 49
long boxes, containing (on estimation)
around 60,000 cards. The system was basi-
cally a memory aid, but included cross-
references. On a card was written the title of
a book or article, and at the bottom topical
themes or names, based on the title, were
noted. These topics had their own cards, on
which a reference was then added referring to
the author on the initial card. Vollenhoven
regularly received lists of the new books ac-
quired by the said libraries, and he would
mark the titles he wanted his student assistant
to add to the system. Regretfully, the card
system was not organized around his own
thought, neither his systematic thinking nor
the problem-historical work. So, although
the card system still exists, it has next to no
distinct value in connection with the interpre-
tation of his work. The cards are destined to
be destroyed.
Gradually I also came to assist Vol-
lenhoven in his academic work. My typing of
the privatissima lectures and discussion of their
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 11
content with him brought on this role. It was
in these years of his retirement that Vol-
lenhoven brought about significant refine-
ments to his historiographical work. I should
explain that his personal method of work had
a certain dialectic to it. He proceeded
from an initial indication of the first phase of
philosophys history and then researched the
influence of these initial conditions in subse-
quent phases of thought. (This is how he
came to speak of types and currents.) This
research included understanding how tradi-
tions (types) are influenced by new phases of
thought (currents), but it also involved a
review of how the traditions themselves
fared. One can expect a certain refinement
in their set-up. But of course new types or
new variants of existing types can also arise.
When Vollenhoven discovered this, he would
back track to see when and with whom this
first arose. This generally called for a reor-
ganization of his type-categories. When this
was clarified he would again continue in the
direction of historical development. It was
this back and forth working with and against
historys progress that induced the changes in
the problem-historical method and influ-
enced its development. I saw this first hand
in Vollenhovens last academic work of 1966-
1975.
Two instances of such development
in these final years are worthy of mention.
The first is the theory of interaction. For a long
time Vollenhoven distinguished only three
types. It began with Anaximenes, who took
air to be the principle (arche) of all things and
thus the focal point of interaction through
rarefaction and condensation of air. But
ancient cosmology had fire, water and earth
too as elements, besides air. Vollenhoven
had long noted two variants of this interac-
tion which result from taking not air but the
difference between either air and fire or air
and water as the principle (or locus) of inter-
action. These variants he called anthropo-
logical and phytological respectively,
while the initial conception, having air as
principle, he called zoological.
Continued research brought Vol-
lenhoven to see that a conception with fire as
principle (such as in Heraclitus) can also be
interpreted as a type of interaction. The
same holds for the conception that takes
water as its principle (Thales). (These had
previously been taken to be distinct types,
not variants of interactionism.) This raised
the question as to whether there might not be
a conception with a principle that is higher
than fire, being situated between fire and
ether (the fifth element singled out by Aristo-
tle). The same can be asked with respect to
the possibility of a lower principle, namely
between water and earth, which would be a
form of materialism. Vollenhoven came to
include the first alternative, but (after some
hesitation) he was not inclined to honour the
second as a historically relevant type. The
result was that the theory of interaction ex-
panded from three to six types. My job was
to assist in the reshuffling of thinkers (on the
basis of their thought of course) whose con-
ceptions were affected by this reinterpreta-
tion.
The theory of monarchianism also un-
derwent a drastic revision. Vollenhoven had
up to that time always interpreted monarchi-
anism dualistically. The lead thinkers here
were Aristotle, in his final conception, and
also Alexander of Aphrodisias, the influential
Aristotelian of the third century A.D. (If
A.P. Bos is correct in his study of Aristotle,
then the monarchianism of Aristotle is an
eisogesis, based on the works of this Alexan-
der. But this question does not affect the
structure of monarchianism as type of
thought as such; cf. Kor Brils comment in
D.H.Th. Vollenhoven, The Problem-Historical
method and the History of Philosophy, ed. by K.A.
Bril (Amstelveen: De Zaak Haes, 2005), p.
55.)
This monarchianism honoured the
schema of God and the world, conceived
dualistically. God is the Monarch or One,
while the world is composite. The dualism is
evident from the aloof self-sufficiency of the
monarch, which is thought thinking itself.
Apart from being the worlds first cause of
motion (an effect of the process of self-
thinking thought), it only serves as goal for
the beings of the world to strive for. The
composition of the world consists of a high-
er, universal activating principle (whether as
mind, world-soul or life-spirit) and lower
activated material being, distinct in being the
principle of individuality. Vollenhoven had
analysed this type of thought in considerable
detail. But now, in the early 70s, he came to
see that there are also (non-Aristotelian) mo-
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 12
nistic variants of monarchianism, to which
Vollenhoven reckoned Speusippos, Plotinus,
Cusanus and Husserl. Here the higher unity
of the monarch is either something that is
expressed in the phenomena of the world, in
a downward, differentiating and diverging
approach, or the common point of reference
of everything in the world, via a combining
and merging approach. The unity of the
monarch is at the same time the unity of (the)
all.
This was the last major development
of the problem-historical method. Vollenho-
ven had made this discovery while research-
ing an article in which he hoped to clarify
some of the main differences between his
own thinking and that of Dooyeweerd and
Stoker a work he was not able to complete
(but see the discussion in Kor Brils Vollenho-
vens laatste werk, p. 98 ff.). An overview of
these types of monarchianism, and in fact all
the types of thought that Vollenhoven distin-
guished, can be found in D.H.Th. Vollenhoven,
Schematische Kaarten [Schematic Charts], ed. by
K.A. Bril en P.J. Boonstra (Amstelveen: De
Zaak Haes, 2000).
While assisting Vollenhoven with
this work I was very much aware of my (un-
assuming) position in relation to him. I was a
graduate student (hence not quite a beginner
anymore), but to acquire a working
knowledge of Vollenhovens method requires
perseverance and a good grasp of primary
texts. I had the perseverance, but my grasp
of texts was dismally low. I read practically
all the Presocrates at the time and many of
Platos dialogues, hence the time of my assis-
tantship was a great learning experience for
me. But naturally I was completely depend-
ent upon Vollenhovens lead. I wrote reports
for him, which usually included questions I
had. Sometimes my questions helped him to
clarify his meaning, but I was not an inde-
pendent researcher who could take over
from Vollenhoven. When the period of an-
cient philosophy was completed, ending with
Neoplatonism, Vollenhoven wanted to con-
tinue extending the type revisions into the
Middle Ages. Here I balked. I was least
acquainted with this period of philosophy.
And Vollenhoven began to show symptoms
of old age that affected his memory and the
grasp he had of his own work. He had been
hospitalized twice in the early 70s, and it was
clear that he was having increasing difficulties
sustaining his research momentum. In fact
he came to depend progressively on me, but
I, in turn, was not able to bear the responsi-
bility that this entailed. After explaining my
situation to the faculty dean he arranged that
I should be assigned other work. This put a
natural end to my assistance of Vollenhoven
in the fall of 1975. From that point of time
Vollenhoven ceased giving his private lec-
tures. (He announced the discontinuance of
the privatissima in a short notice in the Free
Universitys weekly, Ad Valvas, 3 October
1975; reprinted in K.A. Bril, Vollenhovens
laatste werk, p. 5.) John Kok took over from
me in continuing to provide Vollenhoven
with practical assistance with books and the
card system.
In June 1978 Vollenhoven died.
Shortly afterwards I published the revised
work on ancient philosophy that I had assist-
ed Vollenhoven with. (This is Ancient Philo-
sophical Conceptions in Problem-Historical Lay-out,
1979, now integrated into Bril and Boonstras
edition of the Schematic Charts.) The editors
of Philosophia Reformata, quite unexpectedly,
asked me to write the obituary for the jour-
nal. I initially declined, for I had only known
Vollenhoven personally in his years of re-
tirement. Others who had known Vollenho-
ven much longer were in a much better posi-
tion. But the editors kept pressing, so I tried
to make the best of it (cf. Phil. Ref. 43 (1978)
93-100).
My fondest memories stem from the
discussions at lunch time. On the Tuesdays,
when I was at his home, I also lunched with
him and the house-keeper. (Mrs Vollenho-
ven could no longer be at home when I start-
ed to work at the Vollenhoven home in 1970;
she died in February 1973.) My family had
emigrated from the Netherlands when I was
barely eight, so there was a lot of Dutch and
church history to catch up on. And I knew
very little about the earlier years of the Free
University. He spoke quite freely about high
and low moments of university life, in many
of which he had played a role.
Vollenhoven was a man of princi-
ples, dogged when opposed but gentle and
pastoral when encouragement was called for.
He showed particular wisdom in practical
affairs, which was why he was chairman of
the Association for Reformational Philoso-
Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 13
phy for so long (28 years). He was peace
loving, seeking to resolve problems in ways
that served the deeper interest of Kingdom
work rather than taking sides. What I have
gotten to know about him that predates the
period of my brief acquaintance with him,
confirms the image of him as being first and
foremost, not the towering intellectual that
he certainly was, but a humble man of integ-
rity and understanding. The tragedies of the
twentieth century had touched him deeply:
world wars, church splits, and animosities
within the university. But he never lost the
faith that good would prevail if we let love to
God and to our fellow humans rule our lives.
His deference to the love command has long
been a model for me to follow.

Tony Tol




Appendix: Books and articles related to
Vollenhoven


The following is a listing of books published
under the auspices of the Vollenhoven
Foundation and other publications of recent
date that are relevant, directly or indirectly, to
Vollenhoven studies.

Boer, E.A. de (2006a), Prof. Vollenhoven en
de Vrijmaking. Briefwisseling met Wilhelmina
Hordijk- van der Meer, Handboek 2006 van
de Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, red. J.H.
Kuiper. Bedum: Print Media, pp. 475-484.

Boer, E.A. de (2006b), Vrienden hervinden
elkaar. De laatste ontmoeting van D.H.Th.
Vollenhoven en K. Schilder, De Reformatie 81,
nr. 26, 1 april, pp. 467-469.

Bril, Kornelis A. (2005), Vollenhoven's Prob-
lem-Historical Method. Introduction and Explora-
tions, translated by Ralph W. Vunderink, with
an introduction by Kornelis A. Bril and
Ralph W. Vunderink. Sioux Center, Iowa:
Dordt College Press, 116 pgs. ISBN
978-0-932914-60-6 [US $ 14.00]

Griffioen, S. (2005), Nieuwe boeken van en
over Vollenhoven, Aspecten van Reformatorische
Wijsbegeerte, 25, nr. 4, oktober, p. 2.

Sweetman, R. (2006), Review of Bril, Kor-
nelis A. (2005), Vollenhoven, D.H.Th.
(2005a), (2005b) and (2005c), Philosophia
Reformata 71, nr. 2, pp. 199-202. (A thought-
ful review, ending with: even if Vollenho-
vens sense of the chief and enduring prob-
lems of philosophy proves contestable, sure-
ly, he is not wrong to see that whether self-
consciously or not philosophical texts articu-
late a sense of the world that speaks to issues
of normativity, of continuity and change,
unity and diversity, universality and individu-
ality. That is, the sensitivity to these issues,
that Vollenhoven's historiography works
through, are undeniably effective ways into
the world of the text and beyond, even if not
the only ways available"; p. 202).

Sweetman, Robert, editor (2007), In the Phryg-
ian Mode. Neo-Calvinism, Antiquity and the La-
mentations of Reformed Philosophy. Lanham: Uni-
versity Press of America; Toronto: Institute
for Christian Studies, xix + 313 pgs. LCCN
2007921349 (Cf. the opening remarks of the
editor of this Newsletter.)

Vollenhoven, D.H.Th. (2000), Schematische
Kaarten: Filosofische concepties in probleemhistorisch
verband, bewerkt door K.A. Bril and P.J.
Boonstra. Amstelveen: De Zaak Haes, 422
pgs. ISBN 90-805180-2-6 [! 25,00]

Vollenhoven, D.H.Th. (2005a), De Probleem-
historische Methode en de Geschiedenis van de Wijs-
begeerte, red. K.A. Bril. Amstelveen: De Zaak
Haes, 182 pgs. ISBN-10: 90-77157-03-4 [!
19,00]

Vollenhoven, D.H.Th. (2005b), The Prob-
lem-Historical Method and the History of Philoso-
phy, ed. by Kornelis A. Bril, translated by J. de
Kievit, S. Francke, J.G. Friesen and R.
Sweetman. Amstelveen: De Zaak Haes, 178
pgs. ISBN-10: 90-77157-05-0 [! 19,00]

Vollenhoven, D.H.Th. (2005c), Wijsgerig
Woordenboek, red. K.A. Bril. Amstelveen: De
Zaak Haes, 473 pgs. ISBN-10:
90-77157-04-2 [! 37,50]

Vollenhoven Newsletter No. 3, September 2007, this issue consists of 14 pages. Page 14
Vollenhoven, Dirk H.T. (2005d), Isagg
Philosophiae: Introduction to Philosophy, bi-lingual
Dutch-English, edited by John H. Kok and
Anthony Tol, with a Preface by Calvin
Seerveld and a Foreword by Anthony Tol.
Dordt College Press, Sioux Center, Iowa, i-
xxxii + 1-145 (twice) + 146-180 pgs (hard-
cover). ISBN 978-0-932914-63-7 [US $
36.00; ! 28,80]
Vollenhoven, Dirk H.T. (2005e), Introduction
to Philosophy, edited by John H. Kok and An-
thony Tol; English only paperback edition,
with the same Preface and Foreword as for
the bi-lingual edition. Dordt College Press,
Sioux Center, Iowa, xxxii+163 pgs. ISBN
978-0-932914-65-1 [US $ 16.00]

Walt, B.J. van der (2006), The Philosophy of
D.H.Th. Vollenhoven (1892-1978), with
special reference to his historiography of
philosophy, Journal for Christian Scholarship 42,
pp. 35-59.