Footnotes2Plato

“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”
–Alfred North Whitehead

Author: Matthew David Segall

  • Consciousness & Technology – The Waking Cosmos Podcast

  • What is Life? (Part 2)

    Continuing a dialogue in the comments of my last post, particularly the question of whether rocks have agency… An organic realism would suggest that some processes within rocks do have varying degrees of agency. Crystallization is telic. Atoms are self-organizing ecopoietic agents. The periodic table of elements is a taxonomic hierarchy that sorts different species…

  • What is Life? (Response to Joe Norman)

    Sharing my reply below to a brilliant series of thoughts concerning the essence of life at Joseph W. Norman’s blog (CLICK HERE TO READ IT). Joe, Thanks for pointing out the relevance of N. Taleb’s distinction between randomness and an agent’s exposure to randomness for the question of “life.” Much to ponder here… My friendship with…

  • Introduction to Process Philosophy

    Below is a lecture recorded for the online course PARP 6060 02 – Introduction to Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at CIIS.edu. I first discuss the meaning of philosophy from a Whiteheadian perspective, then run through a brief history of philosophy as relevant to process thought (Parmenides, Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle, Copernicus, Descartes, Newton, Kant and his…

  • Participatory Spirituality – An Interview with CIIS Professor Jorge Ferrer

  • Whiteheadian commentary on contemporary scientific cosmology: Are the fundamental constants changing?

    Whiteheadian commentary on contemporary scientific cosmology: Are the fundamental constants changing?

    The following is a lecture from a course I’m currently teaching called Whitehead’s Adventure in Cosmology: Toward a Physics of the World-Soul. Watch the PBS Space Time video first for context. “The animal body is only the more highly organized and immediate part of the general environment for its dominant actual occasion [i.e., its consciousness],…

  • “Retrieving Realism: A Whiteheadian Wager” published in IJTS

    “Retrieving Realism: A Whiteheadian Wager” published in IJTS

    Retrieving Realism: A Whiteheadian Wager (PDF) Published in International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, Volume 36, Issue 1 (2017) Abstract: This essay argues that the organic realism of Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) provides a viable alternative to anti-realist tendencies in modern and postmodern philosophy since Descartes. The metaphysical merits of Whitehead’s philosophy of organism are unpacked in…

  • Book Review of Dreyfus & Taylor’s “Retrieving Realism”

    World Futures: The Journal of New Paradigm Research just published my review of Hubert Dreyfus and Charles Taylor’s book Retrieving Realism (2015). Read my review here (it may be behind a paywall, sorry about that). I have another expanded article on their book coming out very soon in the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies that…

  • A Dialogue with Richard Tarnas on Archetypal Cosmology

    A Dialogue with Richard Tarnas on Archetypal Cosmology

    This was a few weeks ago at CIIS.edu. I’m time-stamping to jump in half way so as to highlight that part of our discussion most relevant to the topics explored on this blog.  

  • The Place of Life in the Cosmos (draft of 11th International Whitehead Conference paper)

    Below is the draft of a paper I’ll present at next week’s International Whitehead Conference in the Azores. Feedback appreciated! 2017 International Whitehead Conference   Matthew T. Segall   The Place of Life in the Cosmos: Feeling the Origin of Organism   “A philosophic outlook is the very foundation of thought and of life. The…

  • Toward a Communicative Cosmos: Whitehead and Media Ecology (updated draft)

    Toward a Communicative Cosmos: Whitehead and Media Ecology (updated draft)

    Below is a draft of a paper I’ll offer at the MEA Convention in a few weeks. I share it here in the hopes that my readers may provide feedback that helps me improve it. I have something like 15 minutes to present as part of a panel on “Philosophical Perspectives,” so I’ll only be…

  • My Online Course this Fall: PARP 6133 – Whitehead’s Adventure in Cosmology

    I’m teaching another online graduate course for CIIS.edu this Fall (Aug-Dec) called Whitehead’s Adventure in Cosmology: Toward a Physics of the World-Soul (PARP 6133). Here is the proposed syllabus. Auditors and Special Students are welcome to enroll. Email me at msegall@ciis.edu for more information about how to do this.

  • Erowid’s Psychedelic Encyclopedia at CIIS

    Erowid’s Psychedelic Encyclopedia at CIIS

    This conversation with Earth and Fire Erowid (of erowid.org) at CIIS back in January was supposed to be recorded for a podcast, but alas, due to technical difficulties, the sound crew was unable to record it. Lo and behold, I just came across this video of the event, taken by someone in the audience. Thanks, whoever…

  • McLuhan on Electronic Media

    McLuhan on Electronic Media

    I’m reading McLuhan’s classic Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964) as I prepare a paper for the Media Ecology Association conference this summer. I’m struck by his prophetic insights into the effect of “electronic media” on the human condition. My MEA conference paper will challenge some of his basic assumptions from a (surprise, surprise) Whiteheadian…

  • Tuvel’s Hypatia Article

    Tuvel’s Hypatia Article

    There is a ton of commentary on this controversy, so I won’t try to summarize it. This wiki page does a decent job, as far as I can tell. Here is Rebecca Tuvel’s article, “In defense of transracialism.” It may be helpful to read it before weighing in on the controversy. It is unfortunate that Tuvel…

  • Bruno Latour’s Gaian Political Aesthetics

    Bruno Latour’s Gaian Political Aesthetics

    Excerpted from Waiting for Gaia. “…it became possible for scholars to follow with the same instruments that allow us to trace the production of science (search engines, scientometrics and bibliometric tools, maps of the blogospheres), the people, lobbies, credentials, and money flows of those who insisted on making it a controversy. I am thinking here…

  • Fragments on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit

    Fragments on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit

    Below are a few reflections after teaching a module on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit this past week. My natural inclinations draw me to Schelling’s Naturphilosophie, but every time I return to Hegel’s writing after some time apart I start to worry I’ve allowed myself to fall into a caricatured understanding of his trickster-like dialectical method. I’m reminded of…

  • Media Ecology Conference Paper

    Media Ecology Conference Paper

    Later this month, St. Mary’s College of California will host the 18th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association. The conference theme is “Technology, Spirituality, Ecology.” My paper proposal was accepted. The abstract is below Title: A Communicative Cosmos: Toward a Whiteheadian Media Ecology Author: Matthew T. Segall, PhD Affiliation: California Institute of Integral Studies Contact: msegall@ciis.edu…

  • Waking Cosmos Podcast Interview

    Waking Cosmos Podcast Interview

    Thanks to Adrian Nelson for hosting this conversation on his YouTube channel Waking Cosmos.

  • Diagramming German Idealism

    Diagramming German Idealism

    I’m teaching an online graduate course called Mind and Nature in German Idealism this semester. Below I am sharing several diagrams that I’ve developed to depict Kant’s transcendental method as it evolves through the first three critiques, as well as Fichte’s radicalization of the Kantian project. I hope to continue developing this diagram to elucidate Schelling, Goethe,…

  • “What if we talked politics a little?” By Bruno Latour

    “What if we talked politics a little?” By Bruno Latour

    “If we are to accomplish the impossible feat of (re)composing a group from a multiplicity or, equally impossible, making a plurality obey a common order, it is necessary above all not to start with beings with fixed opinions, firmly established interests, definitive identities and set wills. This would guarantee failure, for any work of composition…