The Harvard Lectures of Alfred North Whitehead, 1925 - 1927 - (Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Complete Works of Alfred N) (Paperback)

About the Book

This second volume in the critical edition reproduces more than 170 lectures delivered by Alfred North Whitehead at Harvard during his second and third years.

Book Synopsis

This second volume in the critical edition reproduces more than 170 lectures delivered by Alfred North Whitehead at Harvard during his second and third years.
For the first time, readers will be able to see the development of Whitehead's philosophy during the crucial period between the publication of Science and the Modern World and his delivery of the Gifford lectures that would become Process and Reality, as he tests his theories in a classroom setting.
These student notes provide the long-missing window into critical developments in Whitehead's thinking during this time. They challenge longstanding speculations about when exactly Whitehead developed some of his most famous metaphysical concepts, as well as how those concepts are to be properly interpreted against the wider backdrop of his life and thought.
Also included is a transcript of the only known lecture Whitehead delivered on the topic of ethics, two mid-year exams given to his students, and nearly 2,000 footnotes that provide additional context for the lectures and alternative student accounts of key passages.

From the Back Cover

Newly discovered notes on Whitehead's philosophy lectures, 1925-1927 This second volume in the critical edition reproduces more than 170 lectures delivered by Alfred North Whitehead at Harvard during his second and third years. For the first time, readers will be able to see the development of Whitehead's philosophy during the crucial period between the publication of Science and the Modern World and his delivery of the Gifford lectures that would become Process and Reality, as he tests his theories in a classroom setting. These student notes provide the long-missing window into critical developments in Whitehead's thinking during this time. They challenge longstanding speculations about when exactly Whitehead developed some of his most famous metaphysical concepts, as well as how those concepts are to be properly interpreted against the wider backdrop of his life and thought. Also included is a transcript of the only known lecture Whitehead delivered on the topic of ethics, two mid-year exams given to his students, and nearly 2,000 footnotes that provide additional context for the lectures and alternative student accounts of key passages. Brian G. Henning, Founding Executive Editor of the Critical Edition of Whitehead, is Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Joseph Petek, Assistant Editor of the Critical Edition, is a doctoral candidate in process studies at Claremont School of Theology. George Lucas is Distinguished Chair in Ethics and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the US Naval Academy.

Review Quotes

As with the previous one, this is a beautifully crafted book, ... destined to be an invaluable tool, not just for the exponents of the process-philosophical tradition, but also for students of the history of philosophy. It provides not just answers to some vexing interpretative issues, but something more important: questions that can cast you on the open-ended journey that Whitehead was most fond of: his beloved "adventures of ideas".--Rosen Lutskanov "Balkan Journal of Philosophy"

The second volume of The Harvard Lectures offers more than a historical snapshot or a new opportunity for scholars to debate. It records the twentieth century's preeminent metaphysician in his most creative phase, responding to student confusions, testing new formulations, and drawing upon everything from classical philosophy and advanced mathematics to recent developments in physics and biology on the way to a stunningly comprehensive cosmological scheme. ... Future interpretation of his published works will surely be aided by the existence of these carefully edited and painstakingly indexed student notes.--Matthew David Segall "Process Studies"

This volume is undoubtedly a valuable resource for any serious student or scholar of Whitehead, and a must for any library collection devoted to philosophy and science.--William J. Meyer "American Journal of Theology and Philosophy"

About the Author

Brian G. Henning, Founding Executive Editor of the Critical Edition of Whitehead, is Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.

Joseph Petek is Associate Editor of The Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Complete Works of Alfred North Whitehead

George Lucas is Distinguished Chair of Ethics and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at The United States Naval Academy. He is General Editor of The Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Complete Works of Alfred North Whitehead.