The first concern leads him towards a critique of modernism the second leads him toward a constructive reconception of his philosophical world view. Whitehead attempts to tread a fine line between what he considers the two primary fallacies of philosophy: the dogmatism that presupposes its ideas are irrefutably absolute and the and-rationalism that discards all philosophical methods (AI 223). This failure is partially due to a simplistic understanding of Whitehead’s project. As a result, the "presence" of postmodern views in Whitehead’s writings still remains largely ignored in most of the works that trace the development of postmodernism and deconstruction. However, regardless of these arguments by Cobb and Griffin, Whitehead’s metaphysical concerns continue to obscure his postmodern views in the minds of most of his readers.
This leads Cobb to examine how Whitehead moves from the substance oriented language of modernity to a "postmodern" understanding of events-in-relation which overcomes the subject-object dichotomy of modernity (FCPP 167-187). Cobb also argues that although Whitehead never used the term "postmodern," he spoke of the modern world in "postmodern tones," recognizing both the accomplishments and the limitations of modernity (Cobb, FCPP 167-187).
Cobb argues that the development of the new physics and William James’ philosophy led Whitehead to an awareness of the onset of a radical shift in world views. According to them, these constructive postmodern thinkers recognized both the fallacies of modernism and the need for re-constructing its world view (Griffin, FCPP 1-42). In addition, these writers correctly claim that people like Peirce, James, Bergson, Whitehead, and Hartshorne go beyond the deconstruction of modernity by providing the context for a constructive postmodernism.
#Alfred north whitehead ideology series#
For instance, David Griffin, along with other writers in the series on Constructive Postmodern Thought, have argued convincingly that Whitehead was indeed aware of both the dangers and the demise of modernism. Cobb have written about Whitehead’s postmodern agenda. To propose that Whitehead shared concerns similar to those of postmodern philosophers is not a novel idea in itself. Nevertheless, ‘with the exception of a few process philosophers, most postmodern thinkers ignore Whitehead as a potential source for postmodern thought. Although the philosophies of Whitehead and Derrida are similar in some respects, there is nothing to link them beyond a few references to common sources such as Peirce, Bergson, and to a lesser extent for ‘Whitehead, Nietzsche (OG 48). In particular, Whitehead’s philosophy and critique of modernism parallels many of Derrida’s epistemological and contextual concerns. The author resurrects several of these areas demonstrating that they are very much postmodern.Īlfred North Whitehead’s critique of modernism is similar to what are now considered "postmodern" critiques. There is a rich diversity in Whitehead’s work which postmodern writers have ignored. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. Process Studies is published quarterly by the Center for Process Studies, 1325 N. E-mail following article appeared in Process Studies, pp. Pedraja is Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275.
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