Abstract

Many levels of commentary are represented by these twelve essays, some situating Whitehead’s cosmology and metaphysics in the broad context of the historical development of philosophical frameworks and ideas, others focusing on fine points such as the concept of prehension and other aspects of language and categorical explanation. A highlight of the collection is Hartshorne’s 1963 essay on "Whitehead’s Novel Intuition," elucidating the category of the ultimate in terms of how "the many become one and are increased by one". In the first chapter, a brief but important new essay, Hartshorne evaluates his own approach to Whiteheadian thought and reflects on his present position with regard to the views expressed in the essays which follow. He reveals no radical departure from his initial, basic philosophical stance, probably best summarized at the close of the 1935 essay, "On Some Criticisms of Whitehead’s Philosophy" : "If upon the wreckage of Newtonian materialism a new world view is to arise, then Whitehead’s system is the most important single indication of what that world view is to be."