(Whitehead's work on Process Philosophy overlaps considerably with the developmental, transformational, and regenerative communities.  The following article by philosopher Andrew Davis introduces a special course that he is providing to help people familiarize themselves with the landscape or Whitehead's approach.)

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THE BEST PLACE TO START LEARNING a new philosophy is not necessarily with the one who wrote it. This is particularly the case with Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) whose writing is widely recognized as some of the most complex and difficult in all of philosophy. This is no trivial claim, but it should not be exaggerated (which also happens). Not all of Whitehead’s texts are equally difficult, but his most famous work Process and Reality: An Essay in Cosmology (1929) is notoriously daunting, even for trained philosophers. The last suggestion anyone should make to an interested beginner in Whitehead’s philosophy is that they start with this text. At worst, this might indefinitely turn them off to what would have been a truly transformative vision of reality and their place within it. I think that would be a shame—a damn shame. 

I remember experiencing firsthand the intimidation of Whitehead’s writing as a young graduate student at Claremont School of Theology. Thankfully, this intimidation was not enough to turn me away completely because it was sustained by a deeper curiosity, as well as a stubborn sense that my discovery of Whitehead would be of profound significance for my own life and my emerging vision of God, the world and, well, everything. Looking back, I was right, but I still did not turn to Whitehead himself for a couple of years. 

Before reading Whitehead at any depth, I read just about every introductory text to his thought that I could get my hands on. Ironically, some of these “introductions” seemed almost as difficult as Whitehead himself. This was hardly helpful, but my curiosity persisted. Others, however, did an admirable job at orienting beginners to the basic ideas, concepts, and notions at the heart of Whitehead’s process philosophy. 

Whitehead’s wife Evelyn once used the metaphor of a prism to describe his thinking: “It must be seen not from one side alone but from all sides, then from underneath and overhead. So seen, as one moves around it, the prism is full of changing lights and colours. To have seen it from one side only is to not have seen it” (DW, 14). I think this statement is also applicable to the way one should approach learning Whitehead’s philosophy. It is not only that Whitehead’s universe is prismatic in precisely the sense his wife describes, but so too is one’s approach in grasping it.

When I was first struggling to learn Whitehead’s philosophy, each introductory text I read felt like one side of a prism that was multisided and spinning with light and color. Some texts looked from underneath, others from overhead and still others attempted to move around Whitehead’s philosophy. All of them also exhibited various shades of light and color belonging to Whitehead’s universe at different depths and intensities. Moreover, I found that in reading various introductory “sides” to Whitehead’s philosophy, I was able to develop a better sense of the whole. This is why I believe still more introductions to Whitehead’s philosophy should be written: they offer different angles or sides from which to begin to collectively grasp his prismatic conception of reality. And while one should not rely on secondary texts forever, I have found that they nevertheless offer a cooperative and complementary means of building confidence in approaching Whitehead’s vision of things.

With the near year on the horizon, I’m now launching a five-week introductory course to Whitehead’s Universe. This course will be offered on a rolling schedule (first iteration: mid-Jan. to mid-Feb.) and is aimed at the philosophically and theologically curious. The course is based upon draft readings (pdf and audio provided) of my next book which is a comprehensive, yet conversational, introduction to Whitehead’s prismatic universe. Over five weeks we will move around the prism together:

>>> Being and Becoming: Week one introduces Alfred North Whitehead and his distinctive approach to metaphysics (The M-word), placing his ideas within a broader historical context of process philosophy from the ancient to modern world.

>>> Experience Everywhere: Week two explores Whitehead’s analysis of human experience and provides an introduction to his “philosophy of organism,” addressing common challenges, problems, and questions that arise when engaging with his ideas.

>>> Possibility, Novelty, and Value: Week three focuses on the central roles of possibility, novelty, and value in Whitehead’s universe, highlighting how these concepts relate to human experience as an expression of both biological and cosmological evolution.

>>> God as Poet of the World: Week four investigates Whitehead’s conception of God, exploring the philosophical functions of the “primordial” and “consequent” natures, as well as other key principles that underlie his philosophical theology.

>>> The New Reformation: Week five concludes the course with a consideration of Whitehead’s critiques of traditional theology, the relevance of his “panentheism” for contemporary religious and spiritual life, and the positive existential transitions his philosophy stimulates.

Whitehead’s philosophy remains of the most significant attempts in all philosophy to think through what realty must be like because you are a part of it. By the same token, his controversial understanding of God continues to confuse, compel and inspire. This course is design for those who seek an initial grip on Whitehead’s universe, and its profound implications for, well, everything. Join me for this adventures of ideas!

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A New Five-Week Course for the Philosophically and Theologically Curious 

For more information, download the syllabus and register for your preferred time zone at whiteheadsuniverse.com.