Description
For Alfred North Whitehead, the fundamental basis of reality is connectivity; the possibility, interdependence and actualisation that defy our human desire for structure, categorisation and division. In this spirit, Professor Roland Faber combines the disparate interests of Whitehead’s study – from Mathematics to Divinity, Political Philosophy to Cosmology – to trace the thematic similarities of this work, and establish their unity in the ‘mind’ of Whitehead. Focussing on the experience of reading Whitehead’s rich text, Faber invites the reader not to search for fixed patterns but to explore the impermanence and diversity of Whitehead’s ideas.
The Mind of Whitehead offers the curious reader a creative exploration of a crucial twentieth-century philosopher, speaking to global concerns from a position of possibility and complexity.
About the Author
Roland Faber is the Kilsby Family/John B. Cobb, Jr., Professor of Process Studies at Claremont School of Theology, the founder and executive director of the Whitehead Research Project, and codirector of the Center for Process Studies.
Contents
Abbreviations
Prologue: The Event of Whitehead
PART I: The Togetherness of Everything
Chapter 1: Experience
Chapter 2: Becoming
Chapter 3: Symbolization
Chapter 4: Cognition
PART II: The Tree of Knowledge
Chapter 5: Mathematics
Chapter 6: Science
Chapter 7: Poetics
Chapter 8: Philosophy
Chapter 9: Religion
PART III: Faces of the Deep
Chapter 10: Multiplicity
Chapter 11: Creativity
Chapter 12: Reason
Chapter 13: Mystery
Intermezzo: Whitehead’s Divine Comedy
PART IV: The Tree of Life
Chapter 14: Body
Chapter 15: Soul
Chapter 16: Mind
Chapter 17: God
Chapter 18: Mutuality
PART V: In the Womb of Nature
Chapter 19: Nature
Chapter 20: Society
Chapter 21: Culture
Chapter 22: Civilization
PART VI: Universals of the Universe
Chapter 23:Life
Chapter 24: Environment
Chapter 25: Evolution
Chapter 26: Cosmos
Chapter 27: Continuum
Epilogue: A Final (and Personal) Note
Bibliography
Index
Endorsements and Reviews
The mind of Faber pours forth its own genius in this munificent engagement with Whitehead’s—and thereby with all that is. Catherine Keller, Drew University
Alfred North Whitehead is one of the most original thinkers of the past century, but also one of the most difficult. In this lucidly argued book, Roland Faber cuts the Gordian knot of Whitehead’s thought, pulling strands apart and then carefully following all their convolutions and interrelations. Faber makes Whitehead newly available to us in the twenty-first century. Steven Shaviro, Wayne State University
Roland Faber . . . is the first to offer us a comprehensive picture of the mind of Whitehead. He understands Whitehead deeply and comprehensively and combines first-rate scholarship with great skill in explanation. In a time when Whitehead is still excluded from all the academic disciplines but interest in his integrating thinking is exploding, this may be the breakthrough we need to have his voice appreciated in our educational system. John B. Cobb Jr., Claremont School of Theology, emeritus
