Whitehead's metaphysics of power : reconstructing modern philosophy / Pierfrancesco Basile.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Basile, Pierfrancesco, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Power (Philosophy).

Metaphysics.

Whitehead, Alfred North, 1861-1947.

Whitehead, Alfred North.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 145 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2017.

Summary:

At the beginning of his magnum opus, 'Process and Reality' (1929), Whitehead lists a series of beliefs which he thinks are widely held by contemporary philosophers. They are all condemned as dangerously mistaken.<br><br>What are these myths?<br>Why are they rejected?<br>In the works of which modern thinker did they arise?<br>What precisely went wrong?<br>At what stage in the development of Western thought did this happen?<br><br>By tackling these questions, Pierfrancesco Basile makes it possible to grasp the main concepts of Whitehead's process metaphysics - especially the crucial notion that being and power are one and the same - and appreciate the complex way this is rooted in the modern philosophical tradition.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Part I In Search of a New Metaphysics

1 Introduction: Metaphysics, Science, Common Sense

2 Speculative Metaphysics: Defining the Ideal

Part II From Permanence to Process

3 Deconstructing Tradition: Substance Revisited

4 The Flowing Self: From Monads to Actual Occasions

5 Overcoming the Cartesian Legacy: The Process Concept of Substance

Part III From Process to Permanence

6 Changing Shapes of Reality: Understanding Nature under a Social Analogy

7 Theological Afterthoughts: A Neo-Platonic God for a Darwinian Universe?

8 Conclusion: The Ethics of Creativity – A Deweyan Critique

Appendix: The Making of a Metaphysician – A Biographical Note

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Jan 2018).

ISBN:

1-4744-0416-2

1-4744-0415-4

OCLC:

1301547503