The Function of Reason, Alfred North Whitehead
The Function of Reason, Alfred North Whitehead
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The Function of Reason

Author: Alfred North Whitehead

Narrator: Ray Childs

Unabridged: 2 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: AB Publishing

Published: 09/07/2016


Synopsis

Whitehead presented these three lectures at Princeton University in 1929. Although 85 years have passed, his central thesis and his analysis remain remarkably current. The scientific materialism that Whitehead opposed with such vigor continues to dominate in academic circles, and even now those who question that worldview are often accused of being antiscientific. This is especially true in discussions of the nature of the human mind and its relation to the body (particularly the brain).

It is hard to find a contemporary thinker with a better perspective on the nature and role of natural science than Whitehead, who, with Bertrand Russell, published Principia Mathematica in 1910; who taught logic and mathematics at Trinity College of Cambridge University; who taught philosophy of science at University College London; and who was a professor of philosophy at Harvard University beginning in 1924. Whitehead's cosmology is far from antiscientific, but he does explain why scientific method and technological practice alone are not able to provide a comprehensive understanding of the full range of human thought and experience. This work explains what we must do to achieve such a comprehensive understanding.

© Agora Publications

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dan on June 24, 2021

There are several great ideas in this book. The main one goes back to Kant and his “Critique of Judgment” - mechanical vs. teleological determinism. Another one is that sciences, with their extremely successful mechanical explanations, forgot their boundaries and the imperative of considering all ex......more

Goodreads review by Wais on December 28, 2023

Requires homework......more

Goodreads review by Sophie on October 27, 2022

The function of Reason : To promote the art of life. 2 Types of Reasons : - Pratical : characterized by Ulysses, focused on methodology and results - Speculative : characterized by Plato, concerned only by itself, is its own end and is about finality (in an ultimate way) Reason is used to : 1 - Live (S......more

Goodreads review by David on July 24, 2022

A deep 3 lecture series on reason where he expands on the notion of logical speculation drawing from history, philosophy, physics and biology. “The secret of progress [in societies and human development] is the speculative interest in the abstract schemes of morphology.” Although I don't understand ev......more

Goodreads review by Rasmus on May 12, 2020

Miksi pelkkä tiede ei riitä maailmankuvaksi? Tämä on kysymys johon filosofi ja matemaatikko Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) pyrkii vastaamaan luennoillaan, jotka on koottu The Function of Reason -kirjaksi. Kirja lähtee ajatuksesta, että järki on elämisen taitoa - kolmiportaisesti sen tulee auttaa......more