Diss.--Universität Frankfurt (Main), 1994. / Bibliogr. p. 283-292.

Diss.--Aachen--Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule. / Bibliogr. p. 277-285.

<p> This is a study of the role that creativity plays in the metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead ( 1861-194 7). As the title generally indicates, there are two parts to this project. The first part develops an understanding of Whitehead's metaphysics through the careful analysis of two key texts, namely Religion in the Making (1926), and Process and Reality (1929). The second part examines and carefully analyses the role that creativity plays within this metaphysic. The second part focuses on two questions. The first question considers the ontological status which creativity requires to perform the role which it is given within the metaphysical system. The second question discusses implications of this status for creativity's relationship to God. This second section further discusses the implications of such an understanding of "process theology" for Christian theology in general. Specifically it comments on the various responses of theology to creatio ex nihilo and the problem of evil.</p> <p> This thesis concludes that creativity functions as an ultimate explanatory principle in Whitehead's metaphysics. In this role, creativity is monistic, not in the sense of an ontological monism, but in the sense that it is 'one' rather than 'many'. Creativity cannot be ontologically monistic because it is not actual. However, since it is indeterminate it must be one rather than many. In addition creativity and God must be considered distinct elements in Whitehead's metaphysics. Their roles cannot be collapsed into each other, although it is possible to speak of an intimate association between them. In this sense, creativity is the ground of God and God is necessarily creative. Finally, this thesis demonstrates that there is room for further dialogue between process theology and a more orthodox version of Christian theology especially regarding the questions of the creation of the world and theodicy.</p> / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Thesis--Lille III. / Bibliography: p. [727]-757.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Faculty of the Divinity School. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Divinity School, March 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

My dissertation explores the ecological implications of a process metaphysics, focusing in particular on subjectivity. Primarily using the work of Whitehead and Deleuze, I explore how taking a process metaphysics seriously undoes the assumption that an individual self is a discretely bounded and independent subject. I argue that this framework troubles expansive identifications of the self with a unified whole that one finds in some metaphysically inflected strands of environmental thought (for example Deep Ecology). Instead, it encourages an orientation towards the qualitative and affective aspects of micro-relational moments, since these are the most ‘real’ metaphysically. Macro-level entities such as the self (as well as other ‘wholes’) are understood as abstractions from these primary occasions. I consider the existential impacts of taking these views seriously, in particular with regard to the transformed standing of tertiary or affective qualities that follows from the metaphysical view developed. / 10000-01-01

<p> Science has exerted a tremendous influence on modern thought. This occurrence has brought with it its share of benefits and problems. Science has offered humankind the growing ability to understand and master nature. This benefit has also brought with it the critical problem of environmental destruction. Within its philosophical roots, science is tied to a cosmology that has alienated humanity from its 'spiritual' experience. This includes aesthetic and theological experience. Two extremes choices are possible: either to reject the scientific cosmology or to reject 'spirituality' as central to the functioning of reality. For those who wish to include the integrity of all human experience in a cosmology, the hope of synthesizing the scientific with the 'spiritual' stands as an ideal.</p> <p> The thought of Alfred North Whitehead is an attempt at such a synthesis of thought. This thesis examines Whitehead's metaphysical synthesis. It begins, in the first and second chapters, with an examination of what Whitehead understands as the problem. The first chapter deals with his description of the mechanist-materialist understanding of nature. The second chapter shows the deep problems which make such an understanding untenable. In the third chapter we explicate Whitehead's attempt at a more plausible metaphysical synthesis. Lastly, we apply Whitehead's thought to questions of ecological ethics. In this chapter we note how reintegrating the idea of a living nature occupied by things with 'inherent value' with a renewed assessment of the importance of human aesthetic and theistic experience, form together a mandate for the ethical treatment of nature.</p> / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Tableau d'honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2011-2012 / Les développements inégaux de la science et de la religion à l'intérieur de la modernité font apparaître un problème, voire même un conflit, quant à l'harmonisation des différents champs de savoir. Mais derrière cette dichotomie simple peut se cacher plusieurs formes d'interactions, allant du conflit et de l'indépendance au dialogue et à l'intégration. Cette dernière solution, extrêmement minoritaire dans la philosophie contemporaine, est pourtant défendue par Alfred North Whitehead. Le rôle de la philosophie est pour lui essentiel, celle-ci servant de milieu capable de défricher et d'articuler soigneusement les rapports possibles entre tous les domaines de l'expérience humaine. Ainsi, la science et la religion reçoivent toutes deux leur signification ultime à l'intérieur d'un schéma global, se voulant à la fois cohérent et adéquat, pouvant être corroboré par les découvertes scientifiques et les intuitions morales.

This dissertation presents a Whiteheadian interpretation of the notions of mind, immanence and process as they are addressed in the Zohar. According to many scholars, this kabbalistic creation story as portrayed in the Zohar is a reaction to the earlier rabbinic concept of God qua creator, which emphasized divine transcendence over divine immanence. The medieval Jewish philosophers, particularly Maimonides influenced by Aristotle, placed particular emphasis on divine transcendence, seeing a radical separation between Creator and creation. With this in mind, these scholars claim that one of the goals of the Zohar’s creation story was to emphasize God’s immanence within creation. Similar to the Zohar, the process metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead and his followers was reacting to the substance metaphysics that had dominated Western philosophy as far back as ancient Greek thought. Whitehead adopts a very similar narrative to that of the Zohar. First there is mind containing all the eternal objects which serve as potential for the creation (God’s primordial nature). Mind becomes immanent in all actual occasions through prehension (God’s consequent nature). Finally God becomes “the lure” (to use Whitehead’s phrase) in the ongoing process of nature (God as superject). In this narrative, God is not the static being, the unmoved mover as discussed by Aristotle, but rather, is portrayed as a dynamic becoming, a God of process. Due to these significant similarities between Whitehead’s process philosophy and the Zohar with regard to the immanence of God and the process of creation, it is worthwhile to attempt a process interpretation of the kabbalistic creation story. The first part of this dissertation is entitled Philosophical Foundations, focusing on the intellectual framework of this study of the Zohar. The second part is entitled Creating a Narrative, looking at the text of the Zohar through the lens of Whitehead’s metaphysics. Finally, the conclusion looks at the narrative and discusses whether the goals of the dissertation have been achieved. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection