Stephen West of the Philosophize This! podcast returns to host the Aftershow for PEL episode #110 on Alfred North Whitehead. In this preview you'll hear Stephen, Dylan Casey (who has a lot to say about process philosophy and science), and David Buchanan (guest from our Pirsig episode and PEL blogger). Later in the conversation they were also joined by Amough Sahu. This is a Continue Reading …
Ep 110 Aftershow: Whitehead on Nature
Featuring Stephen West, Dylan Casey, David Buchanan, and (eventually) Amogha Sahu. Recorded February 15, 2015. Listen to episode 110 before listening to this. Watch it unedited: Watch on YouTube. Continue Reading …
Not School Happenings In February
There is plenty of philosophy afoot in Not School this month. Our members are running a variety of groups, and some of the podcast fellows are running others. We have another post-episode discussion with Stephen West coming up, which is but one of the many perks that PEL Citizens receive. Membership options start at only $5 a month, and you can sign up right here. First up, Continue Reading …
Episode 110: Alfred North Whitehead: What Is Nature?
On The Concept of Nature (1920). Whitehead thinks that old-timey metaphysics wrongly insists that what's fundamental in the world to be studied by science is things (substance) moving around in space and time. We don't actually experience any such thing as "substance," so on this view we end up with an uncrossable gap between the world of our experience and that of science. Continue Reading …
Episode 110: Alfred North Whitehead: What Is Nature? (Citizen Edition)
On The Concept of Nature (1920). Whitehead thinks that old-timey metaphysics wrongly insists that what's fundamental in the world to be studied by science is things (substance) moving around in space and time. We don't actually experience any such thing as "substance," so on this view we end up with an uncrossable gap between the world of our experience and that of science. Continue Reading …
Precognition of Ep. 110: Whitehead
Mark Linsenmayer outlines Alfred North Whitehead's book The Concept of Nature (1920) on the relation between experience and science, and how to think about space, time, and objects. After listening to this, get the full discussion. Read more about the topic and get the text. PEL Citizens can download the transcript from the Free Stuff for Citizens page. Continue Reading …
Precognition of Ep. 110: Whitehead
Mark Linsenmayer outlines Alfred North Whitehead's book The Concept of Nature (1920) on the relation between experience and science, and how to think about space, time, and objects. After listening to this, get the full discussion. Read more about the topic and get the text. Read a transcript. Continue Reading …
Topic for #110: Whitehead’s “The Concept of Nature”
Listen to Mark's outline of the text. Listen to the full episode now. On 1/18/15, our regular foursome discussed a particularly tough book, The Concept of Nature (1920). We chose this one over his more famous Process and Reality (1929) based on Owen Flanagan's recommendation that this older work was more accessible. And part of it is. The first couple of chapters clearly Continue Reading …
Carnap vs. Whitehead on Demonstration vs. Description
A feature of Carnap's system discussed in the episode was his his attempt to objectivize our talk of objects by removing any demonstrative or ostensive elements. Though the "elementary experiences" as I examine them are of course mine, and not analyzable in themselves according to Carnap's account, the only way they become useful to science is through their connection with Continue Reading …
Process Philosophy Explained
Thanks to Burl for including this link in a comment on this blog: Watch on YouTube. It's an interesting take on energy here: energy being just a relationship between entities. So heat is the motion of particles, but what is this "motion" other than the fact that the relations between the particles changes in a lawlike way? The alternative might be that the heat is what makes Continue Reading …
David Ray Griffin on Whitehead on Concsiousness
By crankular demand, I'm putting aside by irritation at hearing the name "Whitehead" to read this article on Whitehead's theory of consciousness--Consciousness as a Subjective Form: Whitehead’s Nonreductionist Naturalism by David Ray Griffin--and see if it helps fill in the gaps in Pirsig's account of experience. Griffin's CV describes him as a "Professor of Philosophy of Continue Reading …