There is a pretty good brief biography of Whitehead available on the wikipedia, and no doubt there are some other good ones online. Therefore, I won't go into all the biographical details, but only mention some of the highlights.
Alfred North Whitehead was born in 1861 and raised in Ramsgate, Kent, in England. His was a family of Anglican clergymen. He studied mathematics and went on to teach mathematics for many years at Cambridge University. Together with his famous student, Bertrand Russell, he wrote a substantial tome in three volumes on the logical foundations of mathematics called the Principia Mathematica (first published in the years 1910-1913).
Despite their early relationship and collaboration, it seems that Whitehead and Russell could not have been more different in temperament and outlook. Their collaboration did not survive the initial publication of the Principia, and at about that time, Whitehead left Cambridge for good. There are a number of apocryphal stories relating exchanges between Russell and Whitehead, or highlighting philosophical differences. I can recount the gist, but not the exact words, of one of these stories. It was said (perhaps by Whitehead himself) that Russell saw philosophy as clear-cut and distinct, as if seen by the noon-day sun, while Whitehead saw it as murky and mysterious, like the twilit hours at dawn and dusk. To Whitehead, reality was dauntingly complex, while Russell saw things in simple, orderly terms.
Whether or not this anecdote represents the thought of either men fairly, it does seem to indicate their temperamental differences.
After Cambridge, Whitehead spent quite a lot of time in London, where his attentions turned to such projects as mathematical education at London University, and the theoretical underpinnings of physics. It was during this time that his philosophical interests started to come to the fore.
Having written several interesting articles and books on the philosophy of education, theoretical physics and the philosophy of science, he was invited to join the philosophy faculty at Harvard University in 1924. He had never formally taught philosophy before. He stayed at Harvard until his retirement in 1937, and continued to live with his wife in the United States until his death in 1947.
His major work, Process and Reality, the primary subject of this blog, was produced during his Harvard years. It was published in 1929 and has since remained in print to fascinate succeeding generations of philosophers and theologians.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Whitehead's Process and Reality: Notes on the proposed project
I hope that new readers of the Zephyrus Unchained Process and Reality project will take a moment to read through this explanatory introduction. In it, I explain my interest in Whitehead as well as his influence on me; I describe the approach that will be taken in examining Process and Reality; and, at the end of this note, I will include a hyperlinked table of contents, that I wll update as new items are added to the blog.
I first encountered the thought and writings of Alfred North Whitehead in 1993, while taking a course on the "Frontiers of Knowledge" at New York University with the late Professor Tom Colwell. If I'm not mistaken, we were reading William E. Doll, Jr.'s book, A Post-modern Perspective on Curriculum (Teachers College Press, 1993). In that work, Doll included a chapter on "Dewey, Whitehead, and Process Thought." I was immediately interested and began to find other material about Whitehead, and soon managed to obtain a copy of his major work, Process and Reality (1929).
Whitehead became central to my Master's thesis, which dealt with questions on the philosophical foundations of teaching environmental awareness and ethics. He also reappeared in my Doctoral dissertation, although in a less central fashion.
Whitehead's process thought, what he himself called the "philosophy of organism," has always fascinated me, and I've often felt drawn to write more freely on his ideas than time and place have permitted. Not so long ago, it struck me that it might be enjoyable to blog about Whitehead in a broad sort of way. Inspired by some examples of close textual examination being carried out by blog (particularly noteworthy is the ongoing project on Samuel Pepys' Diary), I thought I might actually slog my way through Process and Reality paragraph by paragraph.
That is not practical, I think. First, there are most likely copyright restrictions. If the copyright on Whitehead's book has been renewed (and I think it has), then the earliest it can enter public domain is 95 years after the original date of publication (if I understand the U.S. copyright statutes correctly), which would make it available in 2024.
Second, it may simply be too gargantuan a project to quote and analyze every single paragraph. It is my intention nonetheless to use the structure and flow of Whitehead's original work (with ample, but not excessive, quotation) as the framework or scaffolding from which to explore the various ways that the philosophy of organism has proven to be so stimulating to myself and so many others.
It would otherwise be difficult for me to describe the impact of Whitehead on my own habits of thinking. It is surprising sometimes how often I will find myself giving a situation or a point of view a "Whiteheadian read." I find this particularly striking in the study of Buddhist doctrine, which clearly has much in common with Whitehead, despite the fact that Whitehead is most widely known and studied in connection with certain modern strands of Christian theology.
Another attraction for me is how well Whitehead's philosophy lends itself to ecological and environmental thinking. This, I believe, makes his ideas especially relevant today.
Whitehead also has a lot to say about the methods and roles of philosophical inquiry. There is something both sobering and very positive about his point of view. I hope my efforts in explaining his thought will be of benefit to myself and any reader who happens by.
My approach will be to take Process and Reality sections at a time, starting with the author's Preface. I'll provide an outline of the section and some meaningful quotes, followed by (or interspersed with) my interpretation of Whitehead's meaning. Points of connection will surely arise and can be used to connect to any number of other topics. I'll take these as they come, in an organic sort of way. How fitting!
Of course, this has been done before, in print form, and certainly by more expert thinkers than myself. Believing as I do that I nonetheless have something to add to the conversation, I will proceed fearlessly, and perhaps note the views of other interpreters, to the extent that their work is ready at hand or familiar to me.
I hope also that readers (if there be any) will take the time to leave comments of a constructive kind. That will add much to the discussion.
Project Table of Contents:
The Preface
Interlude, on John Locke
Chapter I, Section I
Chapter I, Section II
I first encountered the thought and writings of Alfred North Whitehead in 1993, while taking a course on the "Frontiers of Knowledge" at New York University with the late Professor Tom Colwell. If I'm not mistaken, we were reading William E. Doll, Jr.'s book, A Post-modern Perspective on Curriculum (Teachers College Press, 1993). In that work, Doll included a chapter on "Dewey, Whitehead, and Process Thought." I was immediately interested and began to find other material about Whitehead, and soon managed to obtain a copy of his major work, Process and Reality (1929).
Whitehead became central to my Master's thesis, which dealt with questions on the philosophical foundations of teaching environmental awareness and ethics. He also reappeared in my Doctoral dissertation, although in a less central fashion.
Whitehead's process thought, what he himself called the "philosophy of organism," has always fascinated me, and I've often felt drawn to write more freely on his ideas than time and place have permitted. Not so long ago, it struck me that it might be enjoyable to blog about Whitehead in a broad sort of way. Inspired by some examples of close textual examination being carried out by blog (particularly noteworthy is the ongoing project on Samuel Pepys' Diary), I thought I might actually slog my way through Process and Reality paragraph by paragraph.
That is not practical, I think. First, there are most likely copyright restrictions. If the copyright on Whitehead's book has been renewed (and I think it has), then the earliest it can enter public domain is 95 years after the original date of publication (if I understand the U.S. copyright statutes correctly), which would make it available in 2024.
Second, it may simply be too gargantuan a project to quote and analyze every single paragraph. It is my intention nonetheless to use the structure and flow of Whitehead's original work (with ample, but not excessive, quotation) as the framework or scaffolding from which to explore the various ways that the philosophy of organism has proven to be so stimulating to myself and so many others.
It would otherwise be difficult for me to describe the impact of Whitehead on my own habits of thinking. It is surprising sometimes how often I will find myself giving a situation or a point of view a "Whiteheadian read." I find this particularly striking in the study of Buddhist doctrine, which clearly has much in common with Whitehead, despite the fact that Whitehead is most widely known and studied in connection with certain modern strands of Christian theology.
Another attraction for me is how well Whitehead's philosophy lends itself to ecological and environmental thinking. This, I believe, makes his ideas especially relevant today.
Whitehead also has a lot to say about the methods and roles of philosophical inquiry. There is something both sobering and very positive about his point of view. I hope my efforts in explaining his thought will be of benefit to myself and any reader who happens by.
My approach will be to take Process and Reality sections at a time, starting with the author's Preface. I'll provide an outline of the section and some meaningful quotes, followed by (or interspersed with) my interpretation of Whitehead's meaning. Points of connection will surely arise and can be used to connect to any number of other topics. I'll take these as they come, in an organic sort of way. How fitting!
Of course, this has been done before, in print form, and certainly by more expert thinkers than myself. Believing as I do that I nonetheless have something to add to the conversation, I will proceed fearlessly, and perhaps note the views of other interpreters, to the extent that their work is ready at hand or familiar to me.
I hope also that readers (if there be any) will take the time to leave comments of a constructive kind. That will add much to the discussion.
Project Table of Contents:
The Preface
Interlude, on John Locke
Chapter I, Section I
Chapter I, Section II
Thursday, May 10, 2007
A New Beginning
[updated May 2, 2012]
This blog was originally conceived as a successor to my first venture into blogspace, Hominy Grits, at a time when external circumstances threatened the future existence of that blog. Much has changed in the intervening five years and I'm happy to say that Hominy Grits marches on, albeit with a much altered focus. (Check it out to see what I'm up to these days.)
This blog was thought of as something entirely different, and it remains quite, well ... different.
This blog intends to focus on only a few projects, as time, energy and enthusiasm permit. One is an exegesis of Alfred North Whitehead's great work Process and Reality. This is something I've had in mind for a while. It could be quite a long project, but a "serial" approach, in the medium of the blog, may lend itself well to the undertaking.Other philosophical issues may also arise and be addressed as time, energy and inspiration permit. These will hopefully naturally arise out of the study of Whitehead as well as in response to environmental concerns, scientific and social developments, other current events or even spiritual practice.
This blog intends to present what I am at the moment calling "philosophy, free-style." While I aim to be reasonably scholarly, I do not wish to be tied down overly much by the conventions and crutches of academic thinking. A significant proportion of philosophy is opinion, and this blog intends to express that opinion, unfettered.I hope that many of you will remember to bookmark this site and visit often. Your comments on the ideas brought forward here are always most appreciated.
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