Quotes & Sayings


We, and creation itself, actualize the possibilities of the God who sustains the world, towards becoming in the world in a fuller, more deeper way. - R.E. Slater

There is urgency in coming to see the world as a web of interrelated processes of which we are integral parts, so that all of our choices and actions have [consequential effects upon] the world around us. - Process Metaphysician Alfred North Whitehead

Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem says (i) all closed systems are unprovable within themselves and, that (ii) all open systems are rightly understood as incomplete. - R.E. Slater

The most true thing about you is what God has said to you in Christ, "You are My Beloved." - Tripp Fuller

The God among us is the God who refuses to be God without us, so great is God's Love. - Tripp Fuller

According to some Christian outlooks we were made for another world. Perhaps, rather, we were made for this world to recreate, reclaim, redeem, and renew unto God's future aspiration by the power of His Spirit. - R.E. Slater

Our eschatological ethos is to love. To stand with those who are oppressed. To stand against those who are oppressing. It is that simple. Love is our only calling and Christian Hope. - R.E. Slater

Secularization theory has been massively falsified. We don't live in an age of secularity. We live in an age of explosive, pervasive religiosity... an age of religious pluralism. - Peter L. Berger

Exploring the edge of life and faith in a post-everything world. - Todd Littleton

I don't need another reason to believe, your love is all around for me to see. – Anon

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all. - Khalil Gibran, Prayer XXIII

Be careful what you pretend to be. You become what you pretend to be. - Kurt Vonnegut

Religious beliefs, far from being primary, are often shaped and adjusted by our social goals. - Jim Forest

We become who we are by what we believe and can justify. - R.E. Slater

People, even more than things, need to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. – Anon

Certainly, God's love has made fools of us all. - R.E. Slater

An apocalyptic Christian faith doesn't wait for Jesus to come, but for Jesus to become in our midst. - R.E. Slater

Christian belief in God begins with the cross and resurrection of Jesus, not with rational apologetics. - Eberhard Jüngel, Jürgen Moltmann

Our knowledge of God is through the 'I-Thou' encounter, not in finding God at the end of a syllogism or argument. There is a grave danger in any Christian treatment of God as an object. The God of Jesus Christ and Scripture is irreducibly subject and never made as an object, a force, a power, or a principle that can be manipulated. - Emil Brunner

“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” means "I will be that who I have yet to become." - God (Ex 3.14) or, conversely, “I AM who I AM Becoming.”

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. - Thomas Merton

The church is God's world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and differents to the Eucharist/Communion table to share life with one another as a new kind of family. When this happens, we show to the world what love, justice, peace, reconciliation, and life together is designed by God to be. The church is God's show-and-tell for the world to see how God wants us to live as a blended, global, polypluralistic family united with one will, by one Lord, and baptized by one Spirit. – Anon

The cross that is planted at the heart of the history of the world cannot be uprooted. - Jacques Ellul

The Unity in whose loving presence the universe unfolds is inside each person as a call to welcome the stranger, protect animals and the earth, respect the dignity of each person, think new thoughts, and help bring about ecological civilizations. - John Cobb & Farhan A. Shah

If you board the wrong train it is of no use running along the corridors of the train in the other direction. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God's justice is restorative rather than punitive; His discipline is merciful rather than punishing; His power is made perfect in weakness; and His grace is sufficient for all. – Anon

Our little [biblical] systems have their day; they have their day and cease to be. They are but broken lights of Thee, and Thou, O God art more than they. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

We can’t control God; God is uncontrollable. God can’t control us; God’s love is uncontrolling! - Thomas Jay Oord

Life in perspective but always in process... as we are relational beings in process to one another, so life events are in process in relation to each event... as God is to Self, is to world, is to us... like Father, like sons and daughters, like events... life in process yet always in perspective. - R.E. Slater

To promote societal transition to sustainable ways of living and a global society founded on a shared ethical framework which includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, economic justice, democracy, and a culture of peace. - The Earth Charter Mission Statement

Christian humanism is the belief that human freedom, individual conscience, and unencumbered rational inquiry are compatible with the practice of Christianity or even intrinsic in its doctrine. It represents a philosophical union of Christian faith and classical humanist principles. - Scott Postma

It is never wise to have a self-appointed religious institution determine a nation's moral code. The opportunities for moral compromise and failure are high; the moral codes and creeds assuredly racist, discriminatory, or subjectively and religiously defined; and the pronouncement of inhumanitarian political objectives quite predictable. - R.E. Slater

God's love must both center and define the Christian faith and all religious or human faiths seeking human and ecological balance in worlds of subtraction, harm, tragedy, and evil. - R.E. Slater

In Whitehead’s process ontology, we can think of the experiential ground of reality as an eternal pulse whereby what is objectively public in one moment becomes subjectively prehended in the next, and whereby the subject that emerges from its feelings then perishes into public expression as an object (or “superject”) aiming for novelty. There is a rhythm of Being between object and subject, not an ontological division. This rhythm powers the creative growth of the universe from one occasion of experience to the next. This is the Whiteheadian mantra: “The many become one and are increased by one.” - Matthew Segall

Without Love there is no Truth. And True Truth is always Loving. There is no dichotomy between these terms but only seamless integration. This is the premier centering focus of a Processual Theology of Love. - R.E. Slater

-----

Note: Generally I do not respond to commentary. I may read the comments but wish to reserve my time to write (or write from the comments I read). Instead, I'd like to see our community help one another and in the helping encourage and exhort each of us towards Christian love in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. - re slater

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Is Process Philosophy Enough without Process Theology?


Is Process Philosophy Enough
without Process Theology?
PART 4A

by R.E. Slater & ChatGPT

In Part 1, we asked whether Christianity made the world more moral or not? Our conclusion was:

Morality is as old as humanity itself. Ethics is the reflection on how best to live together. What Christianity did was to tie these deeply and explicitly to worship of a God who cares about how people treat one another — including outsiders. Whether this made the world more moral is debatable — but it certainly reshaped how moral behavior was taught, justified, and spread.

In Part 2, we asked whether Christianity had failed it's own morality tests? We decided there that:

Where Christianity stayed close to the radical moral teachings of Jesus founded on love, it has inspired profound good. But where Christianity marries itself to power, it often contradicts its own moral heart.

And in Part 3, we then asked whether Worldly Philosophies Influenced Religion and Societies for Better or Worse? To which we concluded:

Morality is strongest when it breathes with both lungs - the deep soul of religion, and the clear reason of philosophy. Together, each makes the other stronger. Together, they remind us not just to hold ideals but to work them out — again and again — in our relationships, institutions, and communities.

And lastly,

When religion ignores philosophy, it can become rigid dogma, unable to adapt. And when philosophy ignores the spiritual dimension, it can become cold calculation, unable to inspire sacrifice or hope.

Today, in Part 4, I would like to ask whether process philosophy - apart from process theology - might qualify as an integral societal moral and ethic.


R.E. Slater
July 2, 2025



🌿 I. Can Process Philosophy Function as an Integral Societal Morality and Ethic?

Short answer:

Yes — in principle, process philosophy can be developed and lived as an overarching moral-ethical framework apart from its specifically theological applications. But it takes work to make it truly integral — meaning sufficiently broad, coherent, practical, and action-guiding for whole societies.


📚 What is Process Philosophy at its core?

At its root — thanks to Alfred North Whitehead and his heirs — process philosophy is a metaphysical vision that says:

  • Reality is relational and in constant becoming.

  • Entities are not static substances but evolving processes of interaction and experience.

  • Every event has internal and external relations — everything affects and is affected.

  • Novelty, creativity, and value arise from how entities respond to possibilities.

Theme: Existence is not a frozen structure but a living dance of relatedness and emergence.


What moral insights flow naturally from this?

If reality itself is processual, then moral life is:

  • Relational: Ethics is not about isolated individuals but interconnected communities.

  • Dynamic: Moral norms are not rigid dogmas but evolving guidelines responsive to changing contexts.

  • Co-creative: All actors (human and non-human) participate in shaping outcomes — moral agency is co-developed and shared.

  • Attentive to novelty: Moral growth includes openness to new possibilities and unheard voices.

In short: a processual ethic centers on care for relationships, creative responsibility, and ongoing moral experimentation.


🌍 Could this become an integral moral framework for society?

It could, and here’s why:

Breadth:
It offers a universal metaphysic that applies to persons, communities, ecosystems, economies — everything is process.

Flexibility:
It resists rigid, static moral codes — it invites revising norms as contexts change (a real strength for pluralistic societies).

Responsibility:
It naturally leads to ethics of care, sustainability, and mutual influence — powerful in addressing climate crisis, technological disruption, and global interdependence.

Bridge:
It can speak with science (ecology, complexity theory) and with spiritual traditions that value relationality (Indigenous cosmologies, some forms of Buddhism, panentheistic faiths).


⚠️ But there are challenges

1️⃣ Vagueness risk:
Process metaphysics is so general that it doesn’t always yield specific moral rules. It needs practical frameworks to say what to do next in hard conflicts.

2️⃣ Competing pluralities:
A process view honors many perspectives — but societies still need collective agreements (laws, policies). How do you balance endless novelty with workable consensus?

3️⃣ Compelling vision:
For many people, moral systems gain force from stories — narratives of meaning. Pure process metaphysics may feel abstract unless carried by compelling cultural myths, symbols, or communal practices.


🧩 How might it work in practice?

Where process philosophy already influences integral ethics:

  • Environmental ethics: Deep ecology, sustainability movements, and regenerative agriculture draw on processual ideas of interconnected becoming.

  • Conflict resolution: Process-relational frameworks inform dialogue methods that prioritize empathy, context, and relational healing.

  • Democratic renewal: Some political philosophers use process thought to argue for more participatory, evolving governance (e.g., “process democracy”).

So: it’s not a single moral code — it’s a relational moral method that invites communities to adapt, respond, and co-create.


Summary: A Processual Moral and Ethical Vision

Can process philosophy be integral for society?

Yes, if we develop it not just as abstract metaphysics but as practices, norms, and stories that help communities stay responsive, relational, and just.

Process thought’s real moral power is not to dictate final answers — but to keep us becoming better together, in mutual care and creative freedom.



🌿IIA. How would Process Philosophy compare to Virtue Ethics? Where might they converge, differ, or even enrich each other?

The following is an example of how process philosophy adapts itself to any given situation...

🧭 Quick Definitions

Virtue Ethics

  • Classical root: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics).

  • Focus: Character — the cultivation of good habits that lead a person to human flourishing (eudaimonia).

  • Key idea: Right action flows from the kind of person you are becoming; moral education trains your desires toward the good.

  • Moral life: Practice virtues like courage, temperance, justice, prudence — always aiming for the “golden mean” (balanced excellence).


Process Philosophy (as Moral Philosophy)

  • Root: Whitehead, Hartshorne, Cobb, and others.

  • Focus: Relational Becoming — all entities are processes-in-relation, influencing and responding to each other.

  • Key idea: Moral life is ongoing co-creation — what is “good” emerges from responsive, creative interaction in context.

  • Moral life: Dynamic, situational, novelty-loving, emphasizes caring relationships, mutual becoming, and ecological responsibility.


Where They Overlap

Moral life as growth:

  • Both see morality as an ongoing process of formation.

  • Virtue ethics focuses on forming character.

  • Process ethics focuses on forming relational patterns and communities.

Context matters:

  • Aristotle knew virtue is context-sensitive — “what is brave” depends on the situation.

  • Process thought goes further: context isn’t static — it’s an evolving web. So moral wisdom is even more fluid.

Community:

  • Virtue ethics assumes moral life happens within a polis (community).

  • Process ethics says *all



🕊️ IIB. What would a "Process–Virtue"
Hybrid Moral Credo look like?

🌿✨ A Credo for Virtue in Process

I believe
that goodness is not a trophy we keep on a shelf
but a garden we tend, season by season,
in soil that shifts, in weather that surprises,
with roots deep and branches wide.

I believe
that virtue is a habit of the heart
practiced in the quiet daily acts:
courage when afraid,
honesty when easy lies tempt,
justice when injustice profits,
kindness when hardness looks safer.

I believe
that no virtue lives alone —
it blooms in relation:
patience to listen,
empathy to carry another’s burden,
imagination to see the stranger as kin.

I believe
that to be good is not to stand still
but to become —
to let old virtues adapt when the world shifts,
to risk new forms of courage when old ones fail,
to craft new ways of mercy
when ancient certainties crumble.

I believe
that my life is a thread in a web,
that my choices tug the strands of another’s becoming,
that the smallest kindness echoes outward,
and each selfishness leaves a bruise somewhere unseen.

I believe
that every community is a field of possibilities —
no final blueprint, but invitations:
to nurture habits that heal,
to welcome novelty that renews,
to keep asking what love requires
when the world surprises.

I believe
that this is not static perfection
but living virtue —
courage that grows, justice that deepens,
humility that knows it does not know enough,
love that lures us ever forward.


So We Pledge

  • To be rooted in the good habits that history bequeaths —
    and open to the novelty the future demands.

  • To cultivate character not for ourselves alone
    but for the life of the whole web.

  • To keep becoming — together.


🕊️ Where to Go Next

This Process–Virtue Credo is just a beginning.
To live it, we might:

  • Teach virtue not as frozen commandments,
    but as practices responsive to real relationships.

  • Build schools, families, communities that prize habits and improvisation.

  • Hold up old wisdom, but test it against new suffering and fresh voices.

This is how we grow roots and wings —
stable enough to stand, flexible enough to move.



🌿III. Summarizing Process Philosophy as a Processual Moral and Ethic


🌿✨ Process Philosophy as a Moral and Ethical Framework — A Summary

1️⃣ Core Idea:

At its heart, process philosophy sees reality not as fixed things but as relational events in constant becoming. Everything — persons, societies, ecosystems — is part of an evolving web of connections.


2️⃣ Moral Implication:

Morality, then, is not about obeying rigid, once-for-all rules. It is about responsively co-creating the good in ever-changing contexts.


3️⃣ Key Principles:

  • Relationality: All moral life happens in networks — no isolated acts. Goodness honors how actions affect others (people, communities, earth).

  • Novelty: Evolving new situations require fresh moral responses — creativity is part of ethics.

  • Process over Perfection: Goodness is not static virtue alone but an open-ended journey of growth, repair, and renewal.

  • Mutual Responsibility: We shape each other’s becoming — so we are accountable for the relationships we sustain or neglect.

  • Ecological Awareness: Because everything is connected, ethics must include non-human life and planetary well-being.


4️⃣ What it looks like:

A processual ethic is:

  • Flexible but principledvalues guide, but context and relationship shape how they apply.

  • Communal — moral questions are worked out together, not alone.

  • Courageous — it prizes creative responses to injustice, not just repeating inherited norms.

  • Inclusive — it listens for unheard voices, embracing the new without discarding enduring wisdom.


5️⃣ In practice:

Process philosophy as an ethic encourages:

  • Dynamic justice: Systems that can evolve when harm is uncovered.

  • Relational virtue: Habits of empathy, care, and shared responsibility.

  • Co-creative politics: Democracy as participatory process, not frozen structure.

  • Regenerative care: Economic and ecological systems that sustain life as a living web.


The Heart of It

Process philosophy as morality means living as if every act shapes the world’s next becoming — and asking: “What makes this becoming more just, more life-giving, more loving?” 


Next up... how is process philosophy completed when integrated with process philosophy? And, are there other philosophies out there which provided greater wholeness or completeness re morality and ethical conduct?

No comments:

Post a Comment