Category: Alfred North Whitehead
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Intensity of Satisfaction and Free Energy (Thinking Abiogenesis with Bruce Damer)
See this link for context on Bruce Damer and David Deamer et al.’s abiogenesis hypothesis. … “To sum up: There are two species of process, macroscopic process, and microscopic process. The macroscopic process is the transition from attained actuality to actuality in attainment; while the microscopic process is the conversion of conditions which are merely…
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Physics of the World-Soul: Whitehead’s Adventure in Cosmology (2021)
A new revised and expanded edition of my book Physics of the World-Soul: Whitehead’s Adventure in Cosmology is now available in paperback and electronic versions.
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Emanation, Emergence, and Meaning: Thinking with Vervaeke and Kastrup
Here’s a link to an academic article laying out the significance of Whitehead’s panexperientialism for the hard problem of consciousness: https://footnotes2plato.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/segall_ptsc_7_1_105-131.pdf John Vervaeke and I recorded a dialogue a few days after I recorded the video above. View it here: Dia-logos with John Vervaeke: Emergence, Emanation, and Bernardo Kastrup’s Idealism
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Science and the Modern World (dialogue with Sebastjan Vörös)
Seb and I discussed the history and contemporary status of the natural sciences and their relationship to philosophy and metaphysics.
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The Purpose and Profundity of Whitehead’s Metaphysics (a reply to Massimo Pigliucci)
The following is a response to Massimo Pigliucci’s recent blog post about process metaphysics and Whitehead. I keep a relatively close eye on Pigliucci’s philosophical work, as there is plenty of convergence in our views on several issues, including, as he says in his title, “the promise of process metaphysics.” Despite some convergences, I part…
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“Philosophy Chat” dialogue on Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Whitehead
Had a great chat with Marty yesterday on his podcast “Philosophy Chat.” We covered a lot of territory… those interested in German Idealism, Naturphilosophie, and Process-Relational Philosophy will have plenty to chew on.
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A Cartoon Intro to Whitehead’s Organic Cosmology
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Goethe’s Study of Metamorphosis in Light, Leaf, and Bone
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Science and the Soul of the World: Participatory Knowing in Goethe and Whitehead
a talk delivered for the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at CIIS.edu on Friday, January 29th, 2021.
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“How does matter give rise to consciousness?” (response to Sam Harris)
Harris seems to presuppose the old Cartesian framework, with consciousness being that which is indubitable and which can in no way be reduced to matter. I wonder, though, what concept of matter Harris is working with here? That “matter” is a concept should go without saying, since on his Cartesian view of consciousness, we are…
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A review of Michael Hogue’s “American Immanence: Democracy for an Uncertain World” (2018)
MICHAEL S. HOGUE, American Immanence: Democracy for An Uncertain World. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018: 238 pages. [Reviewed by: MATTHEW D. SEGALL, Philosophy and Religion Department, California Institute of Integral Studies, 1453 Mission Street, San Francisco, California, 94103, USA. <msegall@ciis.edu>.] Michael Hogue has written a timely theopolitical intervention drawing from (and contributing to) the American…
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Voices of VR podcast: A Primer on Whitehead’s Process Philosophy
Kent Bye interviewed me about Whitehead a few weeks ago for his podcast Voices of VR. Here’s the recording on Kent’s website. Enjoy!
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Thinking with Carlo Rovelli: The Physics of Consciousness
Last summer, I traveled to the Gran Sasso Institute in L’Aquila, Italy to participate in a conference bringing physicists and philosophers together to rehash the famous debate in 1922 between Einstein and Bergson. My paper (which should be published soon) brought quantum physicist Carlo Rovelli and Whitehead into the mix. Yesterday I came across this…
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Science and the Soul of the World: Participatory Knowing in Goethe and Whitehead
I’m teaching for Schumacher College again, this time online. This course focuses on two towering exemplars of the organic approach to science, the German poet and naturalist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) and the British mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947). The course will run via live video conference on Saturday mornings (PST) for…
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Dialoguing with Philip Goff about Consciousness, Panpsychism, and Process Philosophy
YouTube summary: In this dialogue, Philip Goff, a philosopher from Durham University and author of Galileo’s Error, discusses various philosophical topics with the host (0:00). Key discussion points include:
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Concrescence and the Implicate Order: Whitehead and Bohm in Dialogue
“In our experience there is always the dim background from which we derive and to which we return. We are not enjoying a limited dolls’ house of clear and distinct things, secluded from all ambiguity. In the darkness beyond there ever looms the vague mass which is the universe begetting us.” Alfred North Whitehead (Science…
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Apology for a Democratic Ontology (response to Keith Woods)
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Rune Soup Podcast with Gordon White: Talking Whitehead, Plato, & Panpsychism
Had a great time with Gordon on Rune Soup a few days ago:
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Thinking Cosmologically with Whitehead
Below is a presentation on Whitehead’s contributions to the natural sciences for the Cobb Institute several weeks ago. My talk is followed by some remarks by plasma physicist Timothy Eastman (editor of https://www.sunypress.edu/p-3844-physics-and-whitehead.aspx):
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Alchemical Consciousness After Descartes: Whitehead’s Philosophy of Organism as Psychedelic Realism
The following is an essay originally submitted for publication in a book on philosophy and psychedelics. After some feedback from the editors, I realized it is too long and includes too many (I hope interesting!) digressions. I’ll be thoroughly revising my submission for the book, so I figured I’d share this earlier version here. Feedback…
Footnotes2Plato 