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Alfred North Whitehead was a British mathematician, logician, and philosopher who was born in 1861 and died in 1947. He is best known for his work in mathematical logic, the foundations of mathematics, and process philosophy, which holds that the world is made up of processes rather than things. Whitehead’s most famous work is “Principia Mathematica” (1910-1913), which he wrote with Bertrand Russell, and his philosophical works include “Science and the Modern World” (1925) and “Process and Reality” (1929).
most important works
“Principia Mathematica” (1910-1913) - A three-volume work co-written with Bertrand Russell, it is a seminal work in mathematical logic and the foundations of mathematics.
“Science and the Modern World” (1925) - In this work, Whitehead critiques the mechanistic worldview and argues for a more holistic understanding of the world.
“Process and Reality” (1929) - Whitehead’s magnum opus, this book sets out his process philosophy and provides a comprehensive view of his metaphysics.
“The Concept of Nature” (1920) - In this work, Whitehead critiques the concept of nature as it had been developed in the European philosophical tradition and offers an alternative view.
“Religion in the Making” (1926) - In this book, Whitehead explores the development of religious concepts and argues that religious ideas are not a product of revelation, but are instead the result of human experience and reflection.
“Adventures of Ideas” (1933) - In this work, Whitehead provides a historical overview of the development of Western philosophy and argues for a philosophy of organism, which emphasizes the interrelatedness of all things.
“Symbolism: Its Meaning and Effect” (1927) - In this work, Whitehead provides a comprehensive treatment of the role of symbols in human experience and argues that symbols are essential to understanding reality.
quotes
“Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them.”
“The art of progress is to preserve order amid change, and to preserve change amid order.”
“Philosophy begins in wonder.”
“Education is an adventure, the most exciting of all human adventures.”
“Religion is what the individual does with his own solitariness.”
“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”
“The process of civilization has been a process of continually expanding the number and complexity of the operations which an individual can perform without knowing how they are performed.”
“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”