Processing Process Ontology (dialogue with Bonnitta Roy and Gregg Henriques)

Bonnie, Gregg, and I met to discuss the interplay between process philosophy and UTOK. We begin by unpacking the status of metaphysics vis à vis science in order to head off some common misconceptions. I make the point that physics has been without a widely accepted metaphysical underpinning since the quantum and relativistic revolutions of the early 20th century. Physics has become increasingly instrumentalist, putting aside the ontological puzzles raised by, eg, nonlocality, the nature of time, and the role of observation in measurement of quantum systems to instead focus on building ever more elaborate mathematical models. 

I unpack Whitehead’s process theology in an attempt to head off concerns that his cosmology includes supernatural elements. His God concept is, as he puts it, an attempt to secularize the concept of God’s function in the world. 

Gregg and Bonnie were kind enough to read my book Crossing the Threshold. I attempt to summarize the imaginative experiment I undertook in that text.