“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”
–Alfred North Whitehead
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Mumbling to the Mother of All
As sleepwalkers, we drift in broad daylight— senses singing us to sleep despite the solar bell resounding overhead. “Wake us up,” we do not hear ourselves crying, while shadows of longing hitch rides on every breath. We can but mumble in reply to its endless smile, answering its Michaelic messages with a verse we ourselves Read more
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Theories of Everything Podcast: Process Philosophy from Plato to Whitehead and Beyond (Dialogue with Curt Jaimungal)
Below I am sharing a couple of outputs from ChatGPT4o1 as a hopefully interesting way of summarizing my 3 hour conversation with Curt. In my prompt I asked it to create a very detailed narrative summary of the transcript written from the perspective of a 23rd century natural philosopher who had lived through the paradigm Read more
Albert Einstein, Alfred North Whitehead, Ancient Philosophy, Aristotle, Carl Jung, Darwin, Descartes, Fichte, Hegel, Hume, Kant, Modern Philosophy, Plato, reason, Religion, Schelling, Socrates
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The Spiritual Mission of America (dialogue with Edward Suprenant)
Below is a summary of our conversation that I have heavily edited but that was originally generated by ChatGPT: As our conversation wound down, we both felt more prepared to think about the future. I appreciated Edward’s thoughtfulness, which helped me reaffirm my sense that America’s spiritual mission remains vital, unfinished, and worth striving for. Read more
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Why the World is Unfinished: Whitehead in 20 Minutes
The following reflections are based on transcribed excerpts from a recent podcast that should appear at the end of the year and that I will be sure to share. Do I consider myself a Whiteheadian? On the one hand, obviously yes—he is certainly the most influential philosopher for me. But at the same time, I Read more
Albert Einstein, Alfred North Whitehead, Carl Jung, Edmund Husserl, Heidegger, Plato, reason, Rudolf Steiner, Wittgenstein
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Becoming Michael’s Companions: Reflections on the Age of the Consciousness Soul
In October of 1922, Rudolf Steiner met with about 80 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 in Stuttgart to deliver a series of 13 lectures that have since been translated and published as Becoming the Archangel Michael’s Companions: Rudolf Steiner’s Challenge to the Younger Generation. Below are my fragmentary comments on the text. Steiner Read more
“In one sense philosophy does nothing. It merely satisfies the entirely impractical craving to probe and adjust ideas which have been found adequate each in its special sphere of use. In the same way the ocean tides do nothing. Twice daily they beat upon the cliffs of continents and then retire. But have patience and look deeper; and you find that in the end whole continents of thought have been submerged by philosophic tides, and have been rebuilt in the depths awaiting emergence. The fate of humanity depends upon the ultimate continental faith by which it shapes its action, and this faith is in the end shaped by philosophy.”
—Alfred North Whitehead
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