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Major Global Philosophies,
the Christian Church, and Science
Part 2 of 4
Whitehead's Metaphysical Contributions
Observation 6
Explain how Whitehead relates to each of the metaphysical subfields listed:
1. Cosmology
2. Philosophical Theology
3. Modality (Philosophy of Possibility and Necessity)
4. Causation and Causal Theory
5. Identity and Change
6. Free Will and Determinism
7. Meta-Ontology
8. Philosophy of Time
9. Philosophy of Space
ChatGPT
Whitehead’s metaphysical contributions
Below is a brief survey showing how Alfred North Whitehead’s process philosophy speaks to various subfields of metaphysics.
In Whitehead’s view, reality is fundamentally in process: each actual entity or “occasion” is momentarily becoming through its relations and prehensions of other entities.
1. Cosmology
- Key Idea: Whitehead’s universe is an ongoing creative advance composed of interrelated events (or “actual occasions”).
- Processual Cosmos:
- Reality unfolds through an interplay of creativity and relationality.
- The cosmos is not static but constantly evolving, with novelty emerging at each phase.
- Contrast to Mechanistic Views:
- Unlike Newton’s clockwork cosmos or Einstein’s geometric spacetime, Whitehead’s cosmos is organic and event-based, emphasizing becoming over being.
2. Philosophical Theology
- Key Idea: God and the world exist in dynamic relationship: God has two “natures”—primordial and consequent.
- Dipolar Theism:
- Primordial Nature: God’s conceptual “pole,” where all possibilities (eternal objects) are envisioned.
- Consequent Nature: God’s responsive “pole,” where God feels and integrates the world’s experiences.
- Relevance:
- Overcomes the classical view of an impassible deity by portraying God as co-creative and intimately engaged with creation’s process.
What are Eternal Objects
[ = The Pure Potentials of the Universe ]
by Andrew Davis
3. Modality (Philosophy of Possibility and Necessity)
- Key Idea: Whitehead’s ontology incorporates eternal objects (pure possibilities) that actual occasions select and actualize.
- Possibility & Creativity:
- All possibilities exist in God’s primordial nature, but how they become actual [or actualized] depends on the creative advance of the universe.
- Necessity is typically linked to the laws or patterns that emerge in these processes, but they remain open to novelty in subsequent occasions.
4. Causation and Causal Theory ~ Prehensions
- Key Idea: Causation is internal and relational, described via “prehensions”—the ways an actual occasion feels and integrates the data of previous occasions.
- Efficient & Final Causes:
- Each new occasion is “caused” both by i) what has come before (efficient cause) and by ii) the lure of creative possibilities (final cause).
- Whitehead merges these classical categories into concrescence, the process whereby an actual entity integrates past data and aims at a new unity.
5. Identity and Change
- Key Idea: Entities do not remain the “same” by static essence; rather, “personal identity” emerges through an ongoing series (or “society”) of interrelated events.
- Societies of Occasions:
- A “society” (e.g., a living organism, a human self) maintains continuity of pattern and subjective aim through successive actual occasions.
- Change is inherent; identity is the coherence maintained across these changing moments of becoming.
6. Free Will and Determinism
- Key Idea: Each actual occasion has some degree of self-determination or “subjective aim,” influenced but not wholly determined by the past.
- Balanced Approach:
- The past constrains each new occasion (deterministic element), but the final synthesis within the occasion includes creative freedom in choosing how to integrate possibilities.
- God’s “lure” offers ideal possibilities, but actual entities freely concresce them into a unique outcome.
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| Typical Freewill v Determinism Model |
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| What exists in the universe? Whitehead’s 8 categories of existence as presented in chapter 2 of Process and Reality (1929/1985). |
7. Meta-Ontology
- Key Idea: Whitehead provides a category-rich system describing the fundamental building blocks of reality.
- Core Categories:
- Actual Occasions: The final real entities constituting the universe.
- Prehensions: The relational “graspings” by which occasions incorporate others.
- Eternal Objects: Pure possibilities that occasions can actualize.
- Creativity: The ultimate principle enabling becoming.
- Why It’s Meta-Ontological:
- Whitehead redefines what “to be” means: to be is to be in process, in relation, and in becoming.
8. Philosophy of Time
- Key Idea: Time is not a single continuum but a succession of creative events—each actual occasion arises, integrates the past, and perishes as it becomes part of the new past.
- Concrescence & Transition:
- Concrescence: The internal process of an occasion’s formation in subjective immediacy.
- Transition: Once complete, the occasion becomes an objective datum for subsequent occasions.
- Processual Temporality:
- Time is thus the ongoing chain of emergent “drops of experience,” each adding something new to the flow of reality.
9. Philosophy of Space
- Key Idea: Whitehead conceptualizes space (and time) through the “extensive continuum,” a network of potential relationships among occasions.
- Relational Space:
- Space is not an empty container but a set of potential relationships or regions that actual occasions occupy and define through their mutual prehensions.
- This continuum is abstract; actual occasions realize portions of it.
- Contrast with Absolute Space:
- Unlike Newton’s absolute space or Einstein’s geometric spacetime, Whitehead emphasizes the dynamic interplay of events shaping spatial relations.
Conclusion: Whitehead’s Metaphysical Reach
By recasting reality as a continuum of becoming, Whitehead’s process philosophy intersects deeply with each major subfield of metaphysics. It prioritizes relationships, novelty, and creative interplay—moving away from static substance models toward a fluid, event-based ontology. This not only redefines classical concepts like time, space, and causation but also reshapes how we view identity, free will, and even God in a universe perpetually in the making.
Observation 7
Sketch a table of Whitehead's metaphysical subfields as compared to traditional subfields:
1. Cosmology
2. Philosophical Theology
3. Modality (Philosophy of Possibility and Necessity)
4. Causation and Causal Theory
5. Identity and Change
6. Free Will and Determinism
7. Meta-Ontology
8. Philosophy of Time
9. Philosophy of Space
ChatGPT
Below is a concise table summarizing how Whitehead’s process philosophy speaks to each of the nine subfields of metaphysics. It highlights key ideas, brief explanations, and contrast points with more traditional views.
In summary, Whitehead’s process philosophy reconfigures the metaphysical subfields around a relational, event-based view of reality. Instead of static substances or rigid determinism, we have constant becoming, cosmic interactivity, and divine co-creativity at every level of existence.
Continue to Part 3 of this discussion....
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