Whitehead S Religious Thought

Presents the process theistic thought of Whitehead as a third alternative between classical theism and religious skepticism. This original interpretation of the religious thought of Alfred North Whitehead highlights Whitehead’s moves from mechanism to organism, and from force to persuasion to offer a third alternative between classical theism and religious skepticism. Daniel A. Dombrowski argues that the move from force to persuasion, in particular, is not only fundamental to Whitehead’s own thought and to process thought in general, but is a necessary condition for the continuing existence of civilized life. Following this line of analysis, Dombrowski demonstrates Whitehead’s relevance to contemporary work in philosophy of mind, political philosophy, and environmental ethics by placing him in dialogue with six major thinkers: David Ray Griffin, Isabelle Stengers, John Rawls, Charles Hartshorne, Judith Butler, and William Wordsworth. “This mature synthesis of the full range of central concerns that have played out across Dombrowski’s long and extraordinarily productive career represents an important contribution to the contemporary literature of process thought. Moreover, because his work has always embraced influences from outside of the process community, this book will have the additional value of introducing many process-oriented readers to nonprocess perspectives, which Dombrowski presents with great care and accuracy.” — Derek Malone-France, author of Faith, Fallibility, and the Virtue of Anxiety: An Essay in Religion and Political Liberalism

Whitehead had a place for God in his comprehensive cosmological vision, and his theism has long attracted interest from some Christian theologians. But Whitehead's ideas have much wider use. Some Buddhists have found help in articulating their nontheistic vision and relating it to the current world of thought and action. In this book religious writers in seven different traditions articulate how they can benefit from Whitehead's work. So this volume demonstrates that various features of his thought can contribute to many communities. According to his followers, Whitehead shows that the deepest convictions and commitments of the major religious communities can be complementary rather than in conflict. Readers of this book will see how that plays out in some detail. A Whiteheadian Hindu can recognize the truth in a Whiteheadian Judaism, and both can appreciate the insights of Chinese Whiteheadians committed to their classical thinking. Perhaps a new day in interreligious understanding has come.

When the first edition ofA Christian Natural Theologyappeared in 1965, it was a groundbreaking work that incorporated Alfred North Whitehead's metaphysical philosophy as a framework for developing a Christian natural theology. The work was so significant it helped to launch process theology as a leading alternative to neo-orthodox theology and has since become a classic in the literature of process theology. This new edition by one of America's preeminent theologians is an essential work for all those interested in process theology.

This volume brings together the proceedings of the “European Summer School for Process Thought”, which took place in Mülheim, Germany, in August 2012. It explores Alfred North Whitehead’s thinking in different fields of science, connecting his philosophical writings with physics, religion, education, psychology and aesthetics. The first part of the book is concerned with Whitehead’s philosophical methodology, discussing a plethora of subjects, including the interdependence between some of Whitehead’s works, the role of logic in his style of argument, concepts of time, the role of symbolism, and the relation between specialized terminology and the colloquial in Whitehead’s philosophy. The second part explores applications for the concepts of Whitehead’s thinking in a broader context. In scientific fields as diverse as physics, theological and classical Chinese religious thought, concepts of education and psychological theories of embodiment, Whitehead’s basic philosophical concepts have been implemented in various different ways. As such, this book holds an interdisciplinary appeal for Whitehead scholars from different scientific backgrounds.

Whitehead’s View of Reality developed from conversations between the authors about the need for a work that would be of assistance to students ready to undertake a study of Alfred North Whitehead’s Process and Reality. The volume begins with a biographical sketch of Whitehead’s life, in order that one can understand the various stages in his professional development as well as the radically changing times in which his thought progressed. It is hoped that the Whiteheads’ encounter with Gertrude Stein will provide the student with a stronger feeling of Whitehead as a person. Charles Hartshorne undertook the task of placing Whitehead within a historical context. The context in which Whitehead is presented is that of being one of the few great philosophers in Western culture who engaged in speculative or metaphysical philosophy. The influence of Plato and Leibniz is noted, as well as Hartshorne’s personal preference for Peirce and Bergson in relation to Whitehead’s speculative philosophy. Whitehead agreed with all these great metaphysicians that the explanation of matter was to be sought in mind, not that of mind in matter. Hume, Kant, Russell and William James are noted as major non-speculative thinkers whose thought received careful consideration by Whitehead. Hume, the Buddhists, and Whitehead agreed that, strictly speaking, a so-called substance is a new concrete reality each moment. It is Hartshorne’s judgment that Whitehead does the best job of retaining aspects of truth in our commonsense notions of individual things and persons. Hartshorne also discusses the paradoxes that arise as we search for our self-identity. He contends that we can escape from these paradoxes if we accept Whitehead’s contention that concrete actualities are not in the last analysis enduring, changing substances but successive momentary stages of what are called substances or individuals. This should lead us to understand that we have an asymmetrical identity with the successive momentary stages of our relations. Hartshorne also notes that the basic concepts developed by Whitehead are based on his understanding that actual entities are the real subjects that experience, perceive, remember, and think. Thus, the basic form of experience is perception. Hartshorne further suggests that perhaps Whitehead is the first philosopher to view perception, which includes memory, as experience of the past rather than of the present. In discussing Whitehead’s philosophical theology, Hartshorne indicats that his view of God was an alternative to the standard metaphysical conception of deity which had prevailed since Aristotle. The problem of divine knowledge had been at the core of the problems with classical theism. The issue was whether everything I do is decided at my coming to exist. If so, then we are nothing but a clog in the cosmic machinery. Hartshorne suggests that the first theologian to view this issue sharply was Fausto Socinus who took the idea of human decision-making seriously and rejected the notion that divine omnipotence determines human decisions. He suggested among others had something in common with the Socinians. Hartshorne concluds his remarks focusing on unresolved problems in Whitehead’s theism. Creighton Peden’s responsibility is to present an exposition of Whitehead’s philosophy, with primary attention at first given to his basic terms, as well as to the foundation principles and structure of his method. Analysis is then given his metaphysical scheme from the perspective of his method. The focus of attention then shifts to Whitehead’s doctrine of God and his view of religion. Peden concludes with a comparative evaluation of Whitehead’s position with traditional Christian thought. Consideration is given to three general problems raised by traditional Christians. The first point of contention is that Whitehead’s God is not the infinite and eternal God of the Universe but is rather a limited God within the Universe. In the second case, traditional Christian theology would assert that Whitehead’s God does not actually save because he does not save the individual. The third problem would hold that Whitehead’s God is not the or a personal God.