Phenomenology and Whitehead

[Güney27]

Hello,

I came across the following article.

https://thelizardpress.wordpress.com/20 ... into-time/

I'm not familiar with whitehead, but I've heard of him a lot from anti-materialistic people.
The linked article mentions that he attaches great importance to experience.
That brought me to the question of whether he also conducts phenomenological investigations?
Does he have anything in common with Steiner's teachings?


Kind regards

[AshvinP]

Hello,

I came across the following article.

https://thelizardpress.wordpress.com/20 ... into-time/

I'm not familiar with whitehead, but I've heard of him a lot from anti-materialistic people.
The linked article mentions that he attaches great importance to experience.
That brought me to the question of whether he also conducts phenomenological investigations?
Does he have anything in common with Steiner's teachings?


Kind regards

Hello Guney,

From what little I had read of Whitehead, I am inclined to agree with Bernardo that it is way too abstract terminology. I'm not sure if it is really worth the effort, since there are plenty of philosophers who expressed the same experiential 'panentheistic' ideas more concretely. I am not aware of him doing any phenomenology, but I am not sure about that.

I wanted to ask you, if you don't mind sharing, how you came across Bernardo and/or idealism? When I was your age, I had zero interest in such things. And I am sure I would have found it a massive intellectual slog to wade through at that time. Did you catch on fairly quickly or do you feel like you are still struggling to grasp the core philosophical concepts?

[Güney27]

Hello,

I came across the following article.

https://thelizardpress.wordpress.com/20 ... into-time/

I'm not familiar with whitehead, but I've heard of him a lot from anti-materialistic people.
The linked article mentions that he attaches great importance to experience.
That brought me to the question of whether he also conducts phenomenological investigations?
Does he have anything in common with Steiner's teachings?


Kind regards

Hello Guney,

From what little I had read of Whitehead, I am inclined to agree with Bernardo that it is way too abstract terminology. I'm not sure if it is really worth the effort, since there are plenty of philosophers who expressed the same experiential 'panentheistic' ideas more concretely. I am not aware of him doing any phenomenology, but I am not sure about that.

I wanted to ask you, if you don't mind sharing, how you came across Bernardo and/or idealism? When I was your age, I had zero interest in such things. And I am sure I would have found it a massive intellectual slog to wade through at that time. Did you catch on fairly quickly or do you feel like you are still struggling to grasp the core philosophical concepts?

Hello Ashvin,

There are various reasons why I deal with these things.
I can't give an exact answer
because I'm not 100 percent sure where my interest comes from.
But even as a child I was interested in spirituality and the basic questions of our existence (what was before the big bang? Why does anything exist? ....).
However, I didn't grow up religious.
A few years ago I tried to find a religion because I couldn't get used to living a life without a deeper meaning.
However, I found the answers of the Abrahamic monotheistic religions unsatisfactory.
At that time I started reading Nietzsche, which led to an atheistic impulse in me.
I began to get more and more interested in philosophy and for a long time I only read the writings of philosophers.
It's been remarkably damaging to me since I've pulled my foot out of reality and isolated myself.
I've come to believe that materialism is the truth and the most likely answer to the mind-body problem. But I couldn't accept it and it took me down.
I felt that materialism is a curse and that it harms us all.
I found all the materialists around me to be soulless.
So I was looking for a metaphysical perspective that could bring the divine and spiritual back into my life. So I've dealt with panpsychism, panentheism, dualism, idealism ..... I started practicing Buddhist meditation at the same time.
That's how I came across bk.
I have read several of his books and found it very attractive that he bases his thesis on "scientific facts" (e.g. dissociative identity disorder).
There are probably many other reasons for my employment, but I am not aware of them at the moment.


,,I'm not sure if it is really worth the effort, since there are plenty of philosophers who expressed the same experiential 'panentheistic' ideas more concretely.,,


Which philosophers do you recommend?


Kind regards

[AshvinP]

Hello,

I came across the following article.

https://thelizardpress.wordpress.com/20 ... into-time/

I'm not familiar with whitehead, but I've heard of him a lot from anti-materialistic people.
The linked article mentions that he attaches great importance to experience.
That brought me to the question of whether he also conducts phenomenological investigations?
Does he have anything in common with Steiner's teachings?


Kind regards

Hello Guney,

From what little I had read of Whitehead, I am inclined to agree with Bernardo that it is way too abstract terminology. I'm not sure if it is really worth the effort, since there are plenty of philosophers who expressed the same experiential 'panentheistic' ideas more concretely. I am not aware of him doing any phenomenology, but I am not sure about that.

I wanted to ask you, if you don't mind sharing, how you came across Bernardo and/or idealism? When I was your age, I had zero interest in such things. And I am sure I would have found it a massive intellectual slog to wade through at that time. Did you catch on fairly quickly or do you feel like you are still struggling to grasp the core philosophical concepts?

Hello Ashvin,

There are various reasons why I deal with these things.
I can't give an exact answer
because I'm not 100 percent sure where my interest comes from.
But even as a child I was interested in spirituality and the basic questions of our existence (what was before the big bang? Why does anything exist? ....).
However, I didn't grow up religious.
A few years ago I tried to find a religion because I couldn't get used to living a life without a deeper meaning.
However, I found the answers of the Abrahamic monotheistic religions unsatisfactory.
At that time I started reading Nietzsche, which led to an atheistic impulse in me.
I began to get more and more interested in philosophy and for a long time I only read the writings of philosophers.
It's been remarkably damaging to me since I've pulled my foot out of reality and isolated myself.
I've come to believe that materialism is the truth and the most likely answer to the mind-body problem. But I couldn't accept it and it took me down.
I felt that materialism is a curse and that it harms us all.
I found all the materialists around me to be soulless.
So I was looking for a metaphysical perspective that could bring the divine and spiritual back into my life. So I've dealt with panpsychism, panentheism, dualism, idealism ..... I started practicing Buddhist meditation at the same time.
That's how I came across bk.
I have read several of his books and found it very attractive that he bases his thesis on "scientific facts" (e.g. dissociative identity disorder).
There are probably many other reasons for my employment, but I am not aware of them at the moment.


,,I'm not sure if it is really worth the effort, since there are plenty of philosophers who expressed the same experiential 'panentheistic' ideas more concretely.,,


Which philosophers do you recommend?


Kind regards

Guney,

Thanks for sharing. That is not too dissimilar from my own journey, except spread out over some more time. At your age, I was still in the atheistic/materialist phase. I think many people take a similar trajectory.

It seems to me that focusing your efforts on prayerful meditation and spirtual practice in general, as you were discussing with Cleric on the other thread, will be very rewarding for you now. It may be unnecessary and unhelpful to delve into too many abstract conceptual philosophies now, as they can serve as a positive obstacle to the inner work. It sounded like you are already working through some of Steiner's writings/lectures. Besides him, I would recommend Owen Barfield, who we have mentioned some here. His book 'Saving the Appearances' is a great one. There are also many shorter essays/articles at his website - https://www.owenbarfield.org/read-online/articles/

I just came across this introductory video by his grandson as well. It focuses mostly on his relationship with his fellow 'Inklings', CS Lewis and Tolkien. Around 21 min, he also mentions the relationship to Steiner and Anthroposophy.