Overview
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) was an English mathematician-philosopher who co-authored Principia Mathematica with Russell, then developed process metaphysics at Harvard. Science and the Modern World and Process and Reality rethink nature as events, not inert stuff. Handbook dates: 1861–1947. He moved from logic and education reform to speculative cosmology.
Main ideas
Actual occasions are drops of experience becoming; reality is process, not static substance. Prehension names how entities feel and take account of others. Eternal objects are pure potentials ingressing into occasions. God lures novelty as primordial and consequent nature—not coercive omnipotence. Bifurcation of nature into bare matter plus mind is a modern error. Education should foster imagination and generalization, not mere inert ideas.
Major works
- Process and Reality
- Science and the Modern World
- Principia Mathematica
- Adventures of Ideas
Legacy
Process theology and metaphysics take Whitehead as founder; ecologists and physicists of becoming cite him. Educationists reclaim Aims of Education. He bridges analytic origins and speculative system.