Alfred North Whitehead was a famous British philosopher and mathematician best known for his works in logic, mathematics and the study of nature. In collaboration with Bertrand Russell, he wrote the landmark three-volume Principia Mathematica (eteenth Century, twentieth Century and Contemporary). It is often described as one of the most influential and important books in the history of Philosophy. His most famous work, though, is his book Science and Philosophy: A Selection of essays on Science, Politics, Astronomy and Space.
The title of this book is somewhat misleading as it does not contain an Introduction. Rather, it’s a collection of ten essays on natural science, ethics, sociology and aesthetics. Each essay discusses a different aspect of natural science or each addresses a particular argument made by the great scientist. The aim of the author was to show that each of these topics had strong arguments. In doing so, he attempted to prove that there are various perspectives on natural science and each of these can be traced back to ancient Greece.
The theme that runs through all ten essays is the question of whether or not natural science is good for itself or good for society as a whole. Arguments range from theistic evolution to Intelligent Design and many other topics of interest to those who choose to study natural science. He also takes a look at the relationship between religion and science as well as individual beliefs and science as a whole. Throughout the history of natural science, many claims have been made, many theories formulated, many discoveries made, and many theories explained. Alfred North Whitehead tries to untangle the web of reality and shows how each of these can be accurately weighed against each other to come to some sort of conclusion about what science is.
One of the themes he explores in his book is how religion has shaped human thinking over the course of time. It is human beings that have constructed the very concepts of right and wrong that govern our understanding of nature and interact with one another every day. While he doesn’t delve too deeply into the psychology of religion, he does provide an intro to the subject that provides insight on how we came to know things as we do today. The belief in a superior, creator God and the concept of salvation provide the foundation for natural science as it tries to describe the natural world.
The concepts of theist religion and atheistic are also examined in detail. The former believes in the existence of an invisible force that is the cause of natural laws and the latter’s belief in a soul that has died. A very intriguing theme that ties together almost all of Whitehead’s works is the idea that the society we live in is one built upon faith. A very interesting dichotomy that highlights this point is that while the majority of the people in the society believe that there is a God, most of them are blind to the fact that they live in a society that denies their basic right to know God. The blind faith that most people in this country have allowed them to remain blissfully ignorant of the realities of life, and what they could be doing to make their lives better.
The theme that science and religion are inseparable also underlines an interesting dichotomy. Science tries to find explanations for the natural world and provides evidence to support its deductions. Theists and agnostics look at science differently. They see it as a way of knowing through the senses and through scientific methodologies that can lead us closer to God. Although both of these views have different points of view, they work hand-in-hand to support the theories of natural science that have been developed by scholars like Alfred North Whitehead.
Alfred North Whitehead was born and raised in Mississippi and graduated from high school at age 17. He spent much of his early years in research, studying life on earth under the prevailing natural laws and drawing his own conclusions. After completing a doctorate degree, he decided to pursue an academic appointment at the University of Chicago, which he did successfully, beginning in 1924. From there he went on to become a renowned natural scientist, educator, teacher and author.
People often ask, what is science? Alfred North Whitehead offers his answer in his book, Science and Hypothesis. This book teaches us that natural science is the study of the explanation of natural phenomena through a logical and unsystematic process. It also teaches us that life and its processes are governed by common principles and laws that we observe and understand through observation and experiment, allowing us to arrive at generalizations about the behavior of living things and their environment, showing us how they operate.