Category: Process Philosophy

Charles Hartshorne’s “Global Argument”for the Existence of God “If I were asked, ‘Why do you believe in God?,’ I would not reply, ‘Because of the ontological argument.’ Rather, I would say that it is because of a group of arguments that mutually support one another so that their combined strength is not, as Kant would… Continue reading The Conceptual Miracles of Charles Hartshorne 03

By Alfred North Whitehead In the gradual emergence of mankind from absorption in the habits of its animal ancestors, thought extended itself beyond immediate animal necessities and animal affections. It generalized itself and answered subconscious questions about the world. In this way cosmology was developed, in every tribe and race. The answers were clearer than… Continue reading Religious Psychology of the Western Peoples

[Teilhard interviewed by Marcel Brion] Les Nouvelles Littéraires, Thursday, January 11, 1951, pages 1 and 4 What follows is a translation of Marcel Brion’s interview with Teilhard de Chardin preceded by some notes on the historical context of the interview. The Context of Teilhard’s Interview with Marcel Brion In a letter dated January 28, 1951,… Continue reading Meeting with Father Teilhard de Chardin

Here is a facsimile, in four parts, of a letter from Alfred North Whitehead to Charles Hartshorne written in 1936: The facsimiles appear as Front Matter in Charles Hartshorne’s book Whitehead’s Philosophy: Selected Essays, 1935-1970. Here is a transcription of the handwritten letter: 504 Radnor Hall784 Memorial DriveCambridge, Mass.Jan. 2nd, 1936 Dear Hartshorne First, I… Continue reading Whitehead’s Letter to Hartshorne

Hyatt Carter On 18 October 1963, an article appeared in the Kingsman, a publication of Brooklyn College, announcing the completion of a new building on the campus. In what they called a “Living Tribute” to the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, the building was christened Whitehead Hall. The article, with pictures, occupies a full page in… Continue reading Whitehead Hall on the Campus of Brooklyn College

　A Poem by Hyatt Carter In the beginning, once upon a void,A pulse, first quantum throb, felt and enjoyed: From the many random emerges one,In dipolar rhythm where before was none;One after another now, pulsing free—A social process of self-creativity. If, in nature, consciousness be the crown,Experience, at least, goes all the way down.In people,… Continue reading Process and Presence

Hyatt Carter To discuss how God and the world interact, in Whitehead’s view, it may be helpful to first say a few words about creativity. Creativity is so fundamental an idea in process thought that there are said to be two ultimates: God and creativity. Process denies the idea that only God is creative, or… Continue reading God and the World

By Alfred North Whitehead These lectures are based upon a recurrence to that phase of philo­sophic thought which began with Descartes and ended with Hume. The philosophic scheme which they endeavor to explain is termed the “Phi­losophy of Organism.” There is no doctrine put forward which cannot cite in its defense some explicit statement of… Continue reading Preface to “Process and Reality”

By Charles Hartshorne In my intellectual development, four principal periods may be distinguished. In the first (age 15-22, or 1912-19), the only philosophers in anything like the strict sense whom I can recall as having influenced me directly were the Quaker mystic and teacher, Rufus Jones (I had one course with him at Haverford College,… Continue reading The Development of My Philosophy

By Charles Hartshorne The conceptual structure of the neoclassical philosophy can be partly indicated by a rather simple yet comprehensive table. The aim is less to demonstrate than to explicate, and I shall not conceal certain puzzles that trouble me. The point is to show the interconnections between concepts and thereby to exhibit the philosophy… Continue reading A Logic of Ultimate Contrasts