Process Studies

Although it is beyond doubt that there were historical connections between Whitehead and some of the proponents of Gestalt psychology, it is difficult to determine on the available body of historical evidence whether they were substantive or just marginal. A detailed comparison of Whitehead's process metaphysics and the theories of Gestalt psychology is a task yet to be undertaken. Whitehead's process philosophy and (some forms of) Gestalt psychology share basic similarities in their major principles. This is substantiated by two of Ehrenfels'well-known gestalt qualities: (1) superadditivity, and (2) figure-ground relation. Both approaches can profit from one another: while Whitehead's concept of consciousness and its interrelatedness with unconscious processes seems to be more elaborate, the Gestalt psychological approach, on the other hand, shows how these topics can be investigated by using experimental research designs. This is illustrated by an experiment on complex problem solving which demonstrates that unreportable (functionally unconscious) hints can improve even such sophisticated processes as complex problem solving. Since this is what should be expected from a Whiteheadian point of view, the results empirically confirm the process position on perception and thinking. Finally, further interesting possibilities of undertaking future empirical process research are outlined.

The aim of the first part of this article is to highlight some of the historical roots of the affinities of Whitehead's philosophy with Gestalt psychology by identifying a number of physicists as well as philosopher-psychologists playing a relevant role in both the genesis of Whitehead's thought and that of Gestalt psychology. The article goes beyond identifying Faraday and Maxwell as well as James andBergson as relevant in this respect It also focuses on others who have influenced Whitehead: Lorentz as well as Lotze and Brentano, Ward and Stout The aim of the second part of this article is to introduce three of Whitehead's key ideas by means of a number of simple Gestalt experiments: his idea of what mathematics is all about, his idea of what is wrong with Einstein's interpretation of special and general relativity, and his idea of the role of recognition in the subjective form of feeling.

ABSTRACT: The present article explores two areas: a process based account of personhood and the meta-ethics of humility. The goal is to show that regulative virtues like humility play a prominent role in the development of humans as conceived by process philosophical accounts of personhood.

The present article is an attempt to update the author's article "Being Bold: Anticipating a Whiteheadian Century," which appeared in Process Studies 31 (2002): 3-15. The earlier article was originally delivered at an International Whitehead Conference in 1998, whereas the present article was originally delivered as the banquet address at the International Whitehead Conference devoted to "Seizing an Altemative: Toward an Ecological Civilization" in 2015.

The author argues that, while logical rigor requires Whiteheadians to emphasize the ontological priority of the notion of actual entity as a self-constituting subject of experience for the proper understanding of physical reality. Whitehead's understanding of the key category of society in his metaphysics, especially the way that societies and their constituent actual entities reciprocally "constrain " one another's existence and activity (PR 90-91) and the way that societies are hierarchically ordered to one another within the evolutionary process (PR 99-103) will presumably have more empirical resonance with natural scientists in their own efforts to understand the emergence of life from non-life, the progressive growth of self-awareness among higher-order animal species, etc. So, in dialogue with natural scientists, why not start with what is psychologically more interesting to the listener?

This study aims to critically compare and contrast the views of Ibn Arabi and Whitehead on God, the world, and the relationship between the two. I argue that there are significant overlaps in their systems that are sufficient to start a scholarly and enriching dialogue between the two thinkers. Both seem to envisage the world as a continuum of events, as a process. They also appear to agree that the primordial nature of God includes all potentialities that are also the metaphysical principles that ground regularity in a world that is otherwise defined by pure change. The concept of relationality lies at the core of their conception of the God-world relationship and of the relationships of entities with each other. We can also see an emphasis on God's immanence without losing the distinction between God and the world. They both hold that God can be best understood by bringing antitheses together They make similar distinctions between God's primordial and consequent natures. The article also alludes to points of divergence between the two thinkers. These divergences do not exclude the possibility of a dialogue, but, in contrast, render the interaction between the two a meaningful and enriching one.

Whiteheadian concepts of life, food, "empty" and "occupied space" provide a theoretical basis to unpack an ontogenetic perspective on aging. Focusing on the so-called "Selective Optimization with Compensation " (SOC) strategy, this work will explore this concept in relation to some scientific evidence in the fields of "epigenetics " and molecular nutrition. Further, the role of caloric restriction in health and longevity will be discussed as a SOC strategy, based on the metabolic theory of aging. SOC strategy applied to the processes of aging, when linked with Whitehead's philosophy of organism, makes it possible for us to think about life as a selective process provided by "empty space. " A continuum within the physical field optimizes a "living society," which evolves in permanent social deficit, by means of compensation by nutritional metabolism.