recently published articles in process thought...
2006
“Christina Aus der Au, Achtsam wahrnehmen. Eine theologische Umweltethik (Neukirchen-Vluyn, Neunkirchner Verlag, 2003).” ZEE 02 (2006): 149-150.
Atkins, Richard Kenneth. “Restructuring the Sciences: Peirce's Categories and His Classifications of the Sciences." Transactions of the C .S. Pierce Society 42, no. 4 (2006): 483-500.
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This essay shows that Peirce's (more or less) final classification of the sciences arises from the systematic application of his Categories of Firstness, Secondness and Thirdness to the classification of the sciences themselves and that he does not do so until his 1903's "An Outline Classification of the Sciences." The essay proceeds by: First, making some preliminary comments regarding Peirce's notion of an architectonic, or classification of the sciences; Second, briefly explaining Peirce's Categories of Firstness, Secondness and Thirdness; Third, examining how Peirce classifies the sciences in 1902 and 1903 and specifically how the 1903 classification utilizes the Categories; Fourth and finally, showing that he is only led to classify the sciences in this fashion as result of his philosophical inquiries during those intervening monthsespecially as a result of his Harvard Lectures on Pragmatism.
Allen, Charles W. “An Ontology for Practical Wisdom: Process Philosophy Meets Radical Orthodoxy?” Encounter 67, no.1 (2006): 27-45.
Basile, Pierfrancesco. "The One and the Many. On Whitehead's Alleged Answer to Bradley." Chromatikon II, (2006): 123-136.
Bauman, Whitney. Review of Christianity and Process Thought: Spirituality for a Changing World by Joseph A. Bracken Theology and Science 4, no. 3 (November 2006): 326-28.
Berthrong, John. “Review of Two Great Truths: A New Synthesis of Scientific Naturalism and Christian Faith,” by David Ray Griffin. Theological Studies 67, no. 1 (March 2006): 219-220.
Berthrong, John H. "Motifs for a New Confucian Ecological Vision." In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology ed. by Roger S. Gottlieb (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006): 236-58.
Bell, Jeffrey. “Charting the Road of Inquiry: Deleuze’s Humean Pragmatics and the Challenge of Badiou.” The Southern Journal of Philosophy XLIV, no. 3 (Fall 2006): 339-425.
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This essay responds to Badiou's charge that Deleuze fails to set forth a philosophy that is "beyond categorical opposition." It is argued that this criticism of Deleuze is founded upon a misreading of the Deleuzean distinction between the virtual and the actual, a reading that carries forward Badiou's misreading of Spinoza and, hence, of Deleuze's Spinozism. With this corrected, we show how the virtual-actual distinction operated within the experimental philosophy, or pragmatics, that Deleuze, and later Deleuze and Guattari, sets forth. It is this pragmatics that is precisely the philosophy of difference that is beond categorical oppositions. Through a comparison of Deleuzean pragmatics with the work of Hume and Peirce, we are able to respond to Badiou's further criticism that Deleuze's philosophy fails to understand the conditions for creativity in thought and culture. This criticism is itself resolved once one corrects for Badiou's misreading of Deleuze's virtual-actual distinction.
Berne, Vincent. “Panexpérientialisme et subjectivation: le sens de l'intériorité chez Whitehead.” Chromatikon II (2006): 19-34.
Brewer, David. Review of "Deeper than Darwin: The Prospect for Religion in the Age of Evolution" by John Haught. Theology and Science 4, no. 2 (2006) 199-201.
Breuvart, Jean-Marie. “L'émergence d'une philosophie de l'existence chez Whitehead.” Chromatikon II (2006): 35-48.
Brown, Delwin. “Rediscovering Our Progressive Christian Heritage.” Earl Lecture at Pacific School of Religion, (January 2006). Available at http://www.progressivechristianwitness.org/pcwsearch.cfm.
Cahill, Reginald T. "Deriving the General Relativity Formalism: Understanding its Successes and Failures." arXiv:physics/0611002 v1 (Nov. 2006): 1-14.
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There are now at least eight experiments extending over more than 100 years that have detected the anisotropy of the speed of light, implying the absolute motion of the detecting apparatus through a dynamical space. There are also many experiments that because of design flaws have failed to detect that anisotropy. This light-speed anisotropy is consistent with relativistic effects and Lorentz symmetry, contrary to prevailing beliefs in physics. The theoretical and experimental evidence implies that physics has failed to realise the existence of a dynamical 3-space, and that motion relative to that space is the cause of various relativistic effects, as proposed by Lorentz in 1899. As well there is growing evidence that the phenomenon of gravity is more complex than previously believed, that Newtonian gravity appears to have failed even in the non-relativistic regime. A new physics has emerged that builds upon this observed dynamical 3-space and provides a dynamical theory for that space. This has resulted in a necessary generalisation of the Maxwell, Schrodinger and Dirac equations, which then provide an explanation for gravity as an emergent phenomenon within the new physics. From the generalised Dirac equation we show that the spacetime formalism is derivable, but as merely a mathematical construct whose geodesics arise from the tra- jectories of quantum wavepackets in the 3-space. However the metric of this spacetime is shown not to satisfy the Hilbert-Einstein equations, except in the special case of the Schwarzschild metric. Hence we demonstrate that the successes of the General Relativity formalism have been more illusory than real, that its successes are in fact quite limited, which explains why it failed to account for the bore hole anomaly, the so-called 'dark matter' spiral galaxy rotation anomaly, the systematics of black hole masses and so on. It also failed in that the dynamics of the 3- space is determined by two fundamental constants, namely G and the fine structure constant.
__________. "A New Light-Speed Anisotropy Experiment: Absolute Motion and Gravitational Waves Detected." Progress in Physics 4 (2006): 73-92.
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Data from a new experiment measuring the anisotropy of the one-way speed of EM waves in a coaxial cable, gives the speed of light as 300,000+_400+_20km/s in a measured direction RA=5.5+_2hrs, Dec=70+_10'S, is shown to be in excellent agreement with the results from seven previous anisotropy experiments, particularly those of Miller (1925/26), and even those of Michelson and Morley (1887). The Miller gas-mode interferometer results, and those from the RF coaxial cable experiments of Torr and Kolen (1983), De Witte (1991) and the new experiment all reveal the presence of gravitational waves, as indicated by the last +_variations above, but of a kind different from those supposedly predicted by General Relativity. Miller repeated the Michelson -Morley 1887 gas-mode interferometer experiment and again detected the anisotropy of the speed of light, primarily in the years 1925/26 atop Mt. Wilson, California. The understanding of the operation of the Michelson interferometer in gas-mode was only achieved in 2002 and involved a calibration for the interferometer that necesarily involved Special Relativity effects and the refractive index of the gas in the light paths. The results demonstrate the reality of the Fitzgerald-Lorentz contraction as an observer independent relativistic effect. A common misunderstanding is that the anisotropy of the speed of light is necessarily in conflict with Special Relativity and Lorentz symmetry--this is explained. All eight experiments and theory show that we have both anisotropy of the speed of light and relativistic effects, and that a dynamical 3-space exists--that absolute motion through that space has been repeatedly observed since 1887. These developments completely change fundamental physics and our understanding of reality. "Modern" vacuum-mode Michelson interferometers, particularly the long baseline terrestrial versions, are, by design flaw, incapable of detecting the anisotropy effect and the gravitational waves.
Carruthers, Peter and Elizabeth Schechter. "Can Panpsychism Bridge the Explanatory Gap?" Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 32-39.
Clayton, Philip. “Biology, Directionality, and God: Getting Clear on the Stakes for Religion-Science Discussion.” Theology and Science, 4, no. 2 (2006) 121-27.
__________. “Emergence from Physics to Theology: Toward a Panoramic View.” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 675-87.
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At its best, the emergence debate provides a helpful model of what religion-science scholarship can and should involve. (At its worst in represents the faddishness and bandwagon effects to which our field is also prone,) Those involved in the debate must pay close attention to concrete theories and results in the natural sciences. They rely on the careful conceptual distinctions that philosophers of science draw concerning complexity, novelty, and organization. The resulting views about human mentality and consciousness are tested against these results and checked for their adequacy to the phenomena of human experience. Emergentist theories of nature and personhood have entailments for one's theory of religion and for theological reflection; conversely, theological accounts may constrain one's interpretation of emergent phenomena. In my response to the four symposiasts I draw out these deeper dimensions of the emergence debate.
__________. “The Emergence of Spirit: From Complexity to Anthropology to Theology.” Theology and Science 4, No. 3 (November 2006): 291-307.
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The contemporary naturalist should be pulled in two different directions by the growth of science. On the one hand, the sciences suggest nature's self-sufficiency as a closed and coherent system; on the other, they hint at what we may credibly view as a transcendent source for nature. The idea of a transcendent source does not negate science, but it does undercut claims on behalf of science's self-sufficiency. As a naturalist and exemplary experimentalist, Robert Boyle retained the highest respect for natural order. Boyle's unrelenting naturalism, however, left his belief in God untouched, whereas the more radical naturalism of our day rings forth from pulpits and pens of theologians. There is no place within science for purely empirical proofs of the existence of God or God's purposes within evolutionary history. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to reflect philosophically and theologically on the biological data and what they might portend. I take my lead from emergence theory, the study of emergent complexity in natural history.
Cobb, John B., Jr. “Interview – Passages: Life in Retirement.” Religious Studies News (March 2006), 16-17.
__________. “A Normative View of Progressive Christianity.” Available at http://www.progressivechristianwitness.org/pcwsearch.cfm.
__________. "Experience and Language." Chromatikon II (2006): 137-149.
Cobb, Clifford W. “Toward an Economics of Sustainable Urbanization.” Seeking Truth 33, no. 4 (July, 2006): 58-61.
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A materialist bias toward production of things influences thinking about cities and their economies. In fact, cities are centers of intellectual and spiritual exchange, not merely material production. Failure to recognize the many dimensions of exchange has led to the resurgence of a new kind of mercantilism, in which producers are granted special privileges and wealth distribution becomes more unequal. The philosophy of Henry George provides a good starting point for reformulation of fundamental principles to avoid mercantilism.
Coleman, Sam. “Being Realistic: Why Physicalism May Entail Panexperientialism..” Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 40-52.
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In this paper I first examine two important assumptions underlying the argument that physicalism entails panpsychism. These need unearthing because opponents in the literature distinguish themselves from Strawson in the main by rejecting one or the other. Once they have been states, and something has been said about the positions that reject them. The onus of argument becomes clear: the assumptions require careful defense. I believe they are true, in fact, but their defense is a large project that cannot begin here. So, in the final section I comment on what follows if they are granted. I agree with Strawson that-broadly-'panpsychism' is the direction in which philosophy of mind should be heading; nevertheless, there are certain difficulties in the detail of his position. In light of these I argue for changes to the doctrine, bringing it into line with the slightly-but significantly-different panexperientialism.
Conway, John and Simon Kochen. "The Free Will Theorem." Foundations of Physics 36, no. 10 (October 2006): 1441-1473.
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On the basis of three physical axioms, we prove that if the choice of a particular type of spin 1 experiment is not a function of the information accessible to the experimenters, then its outcome is equally not a function of the information accessible to the particles. We show that this result is robust, and deduce that neither hidden variable theories nor mechanisms of the GRW type for wave function collapse can be made relativistic and causal. We also establish the consistency of our axioms and discuss the philosophical implications.
Cook, Rob. "Nothing Is Real." Religion East & West 6 (October 2006): 1-20.
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Christianity and Buddhism are sometimes perceived as antithetical, such that a choice must be made between the fullness (pleroma) of God in Christ (Col. 1:19) and the Buddha's Void (sunyata). However, after surveying the notion of nothingness more generally in philosophy, art and science, the author seeks to establish commonalities between the two religions by drawing out the key role of nothingness within the Christian tradition and the fullness inherent in the concept of sunyata.
Crain, Steven D. “God Embodied in, God Bodying Forth the World: Emergence and Christian Theology.” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 665-73.
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I expand on Philip Clayton's application of emergence--in the context of a metaphysical position he calls emergent monism--to conceiving God's relationship to the world. Like Clayton, I adopt a panentheistic perspective, but in a way that I argue is consistent with classical philosophical theism and its grammatical analysis of Christian discourse about divine transcendence. In order to exploit further the analogical potential of an emergentist account of human mentality and agency, I argue that the standard panentheistic metaphor The world is the body of God should be complemented by the metaphor God is the body of the world.
De Jonckheere, Claude. "Enquête whiteheadienne sur l'ethnopsychanalyse." Chromatikon II, (2006): 175-203.
Debaise, Didier. "Les ordres de al nature dans Procès et réalité." Chromatikon II (2006): 49-60.
__________. “Vie et Sociétés.” Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Étranger 196, no. 1 (2006): 21-34.
Desmet, Ronny. "Gary Herstein, Whitehead and the Measurement Problem." Review of Whitehead and the Measurement Problem of Cosmology. Chromatikon II (2006), 245-250.
Dorrien, Gary. “Theology of Spirit: Personalist Idealism, Nels F. S. Ferré, and the Universal Word.” American Journal of Theology and Philosophy 27, no. 1 (January 2006): 3-31.
Dumoncel, Jean-Claude. “La Vie-Aventure: Organisme et Symbolisme Selon la Métaphysique de Whitehead.” Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Étranger 196, no. 1 (2006): 57-71.
__________. "Michel Weber (ed.), After Whitehead." Review of After Whitehead. Chromatikon II (2006): 261-279.
Durand, Guillaume, "Whitehead et Einstein: le problème des relations." Chromatikon II (2006): 61-73.
Élie, Maurice. “La Vie Perceptive Selon Whitehead.” Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Étranger 196, no. 1 (2006): 7-20.
Epperly, Bruce. “Miracles Without Supernaturalism: A Process-Relational Perspective.” Encounter 67, no. 1 (2006): 47-61.
__________. “Stature, Power, and Evangelism: The Theological Legacy of Bernard Loomer.” Encounter 67, no. 3 (2006): 231-44.
Faber, Roland. “Transkulturation. Dogmatische Überlegungen zum wesen des Christentums im Fluss.” In Inkulturation. Historische Beispiele und theologische Reflexionen zur Flexibilität und Widerständigkeit des Christlichen, eds. R. Klieber and M. Stowasser. Wien: LIT, 2006, 160-187.
__________. “Prozesstheologie.” In Theologien der Gegenwart. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2006, 179-97.
Fischer, Martin. “Theologische Männerforschung?: Zur Frage der Relevanz von Männerforschung in der Theologie.” Zeitschrift für Evangelische Ethik 50. Jg., (2006): 138-144.
Ford, Lewis S. Review of "Deep Religious Pluralism." ed. by Griffin, David Ray. Encounter 67, no. 3 (2006) 335-37.
__________. “Review of Whitehead’s Philosophy: Points of Connection,” ed. by Janusz S. Polanowski and Donald W. Sherburne. Encounter 67, no.1 (2006): 110-114.
Franck, Robert. "Qu'est-ce qu'une couleur? Philosophie de la nature et approche phénoménologique de la couleur." Chromatikon II. (2006): 97-109.
Galetic, Stéphan. “La lecture russellienne du pragmatisme jamesien.” Chromatikon II. (2006): 75-96.
Gibbons, Gary and Clifford M. Will. “On the Multiple Deaths of Whitehead’s Theory of Gravity.” arXiv e-print (arXiv:gr-qc/0611006) (Nov. 1, 2006).
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Whitehead's 1922 theory of gravitation continues to attract the attention of philosophers, despite evidence presented in 1971 that it violates experiment. We demonstrate that the theory strongly fails five quite different experimental tests, and conclude that, notwithstanding its meritorious philosophical underpinnings, Whitehead's theory is truly dead.
Gochet, Paul. "Philippe Devaux, découvreur de la pensée anglo-saxonne." Chromatikon II, (2006): 151-160.
Goff, Philip. "Experiences Don't Sum." Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 53-61.
Gregersen, Niels Henrik. "Divine Action, Compatibilism, and Coherence Theory: A Response to Russell, Clayton, and Murphy." Theology and Science 4, no. 3 (November 2006): 215-28.
__________. "Emergence in Theological Perspective: A Corollary to Professor Clayton's Boyle Lecture." Theology and Science 4, no. 3 (November 2006): 309-20.
Grim, John. "Indigenous Traditions: Religion and Ecology." In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology ed. by Roger S. Gottlieb (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006): 283-309.
Haag, James W. “Between Physicalism and Mentalism: Philip Clayton on Mind and Emergence.” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 633-47.
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Philip Clayton's work on emergence is a valuable contribution to the fields of religion, science, and philosophy. I focus on three narrow but extremely important areas of Clayton's work. First, Clayton deems that Terrence Deacon’s emergence theory is difficult to accept because it is constructed from thermodynamics, thereby rendering it unable to address phenomenological issues. I examine Deacon's theory and show that development from a physics base is warranted. Furthermore, Clayton does not convincingly demonstrate that such a constructive approach is necessarily incapable of attending to mental phenomena or offer an alternative that explains the causal power of a physically nonconstructible mental realm. Second, I argue that Clayton's notion of emergentist supervenience for comprehending the mental/physical relation is unnecessarily redundant and problematic in relation to causal power. Third, I explore Clayton's alternative use of agent causation to make sense of mental properties having causal power in the world. His effort to resolve emergence difficulties by appealing to phenomenology receives primary attention. Clayton's use of emergence theory is an important contribution to the religion-and-science community, and I encourage further dialogue on the exchange that Clayton commences.
Hearon, Holly E. “Review of Matthew, by Russell Regeant.” Encounter 67, no.1 (2006): 108-109.
Heim, David. “Whodunit? A 9/11 Conspiracy Theory.” Christian Century (Sep. 5, 2006): 8-9.
Hendley, Brian. “Philosophers as Educators, Revisited.” Process Papers: An Occasional Publication of the Association for Process Philosophy of Education 10 (May 2006): 28-40.
Henning, Brian G. "Is There an Ethics of Creativity?" Chromatikon II (2006): 161-173.
Howe, J. Thomas. Review of Schleiermacher and Whitehead: Open Systems in Dialogue, ed. Christine Helmer in Religious Studies Review 32, no. 2 (April, 2006): 101.
Howell, Nancy R. ""Going to the Dogs": Canid Ethology and Theological Reflection." Zygon 41, no.1 (March 2006): 59-69.
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Theological reflection often treats animals in the very broadest terms and establishes a dramatic difference between humans and animals. Empirical observations, however, describe animals and their relationship to humans in more nuanced ways. Marc Bekoff's science, which integrates ethology and ecology, generates a view of the complex social behaviors of animals and entails observations about difference. Dialogue with Bekoff's sensitive awareness of animal behavior is the occasion to construct a theology of nature that is better informed about diversity among animals and differences within and among species.
Hulbert, Steve. "Philip Rose, On Whitehead." Review of On Whitehead. Chromatikon II (2006), 251-254.
Hustwit, J.R. “Process Philosophy.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2007): http://www.iep.utm.edu/p/processp.htm
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Process Philosophy is a longstanding philosophical tradition that emphasizes becoming and change over static being. Through present in many historical and cultural periods, the term "process philosophy" has come to be synonymous with the work of American philosophers Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) and Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000).
Jackelen, Antje. “Emergence Theory—What Is Its Promise? Emergence Everwhere?! Reflections on Philip Clyton's Mind and Emergence.” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 623-32.
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Emergence is a powerful concept marked by great emotional, aesthetic, and intellectual appeal. It makes inroads into the understanding of the most diverse phenomena. Emergence appears to have the potential of explaining anything from the behavior of atoms, ant colonies, and traffic jams to insurance risk, human consciousness, and divine action. Philip Clayton's book Mind and Emergence (2004) offers much-needed clarification of the philosophical grounding of emergence theory. To a large extent, emergence hinges on the concept of levels and hierarchies in nature. The preferred metaphor is that of a ladder. Given the tendency of concepts like emergence to build ideology, a careful analysis of language and metaphor is called for, however. I argue that the preference for the ladder metaphor does not do justice to the differentiated relationality that is a distinct mark of emergence. This oversight may have detrimental consequences when emergence theory is transferred from natural to social and cultural processes. A hermeneutical analysis suggests that better metaphors and visualizations need to be found. As an invitation to consider alternatives, some examples of complex regular polytopes are offered.
Jackson, Frank. “Galen Strawson on Panpsychism.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 62-64.
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We make powerful motor cars by suitably assembling items that are not themselves powerful, but we do not do this by 'adding in the power' at the very end of the assembly line; nor, if it come to that, do we add potions of power along the way. Powerful motor cars are nothing over and above complex arrangements or aggregations of items that are not themselves powerful. The example illustrates the way aggregations can have interesting properties that the items aggregated lack. What can we say of a general kind about what can be make form what by nothing over and above aggregation? I thin that this is the key issue that Galen Strawson (2006) put so forcefully on the table.
Johnson, H. Thomas. "Confronting the Tyranny of Management by Numbers: How Business Can Deliver the Results We Care About Most." Reflections: The SoL Journal of Knowledge, Learning, and Change 5, no. 4 (2006): 1-11.
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Is focusing on results the best way to achieve results? In this article, award-winning author and accounting expert Tom Johnson presents his notion of performance management-"management by means- and examines our misguided cultural enchantment with "management by objectives" and its consequences. His premise will be easily recognized by anyone with production experience: physical systems have physical limits on the quality and quantity of what they produce. Setting production objectives that exceed the system's means may produce short-term results but inevitably degrade the system itself. Johnson challenges us to see the full range of consequences when we treat our organizations as disconnected abstractions. Roger Saillant, a CEO who has successful implemented a similar approach, and Jay Bragdon, an investment analyst, offer their perspectives on the practical value of managing by means. Together these pieces offer a compelling new vision for the work of managers.
Johnson, Ed. “Process Learning: A Response to the Poison of Fundamentalism.” Process Papers: An Occasional Publication of the Association for Process Philosophy of Education 10 (May 2006): 54-63.
Kamal, Muhammad. "The Self and the Other in Sufi Thought." Religion East & West 6 (October 2006):21-32.
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This paper deals with the problem of the relationship between the Self and the Other in Sufi thought. It explores the possibility that the dichotomy of the Self and the Other may be deconstructed in three different ways: first, philosophically, on the grounds that the Other is the ontological foundation for the self; second, emotionally, on the grounds that the relationship between them is primordially emotional rather than epistemological; and, third, spiritually, through the renunciation of the temporal state of existence of the self. It is argued that at the end of the Sufi journey, the self annihilates its own existence in order to reunite with the Other.
Keller, David R. “Pedagogy in Process: Reflections on Teaching Environmental Ethics in a Community with an Anti-Environmentalist Orientation.” Process Papers: An Occasional Publication of the Association for Process Philosophy of Education 10 (May 2006): 12-7.
Knight, John Allan. “Truth, Justified Belief, and the Nature of Religious Claims: Schubert Ogden’s Transcendental Criterion of Credibility.” American Journal of Theology and Philosophy 27, no.1 (January 2006): 56-84.
Laszlo, Ervin. “Quantum and Consciousness: In Search of a New Paradigm.” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 533-41.
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Two fundamental issues raised by Lothar Schafer are considered: (1) the question of a suitable paradigm within which the findings of quantum physics can be optimally interpreted and (2) the question of the assessment of the presence and importance of mind and consciousness in the universe. In regard to the former, I contend that the ideal of science is to interpret its finding in an optimally consistent and minimally speculative framework. In this context Schafer's assertion that certain findings in quantum physics (those that relate to virtual states) indicated the presence of mind at the quantum level implies a dualistic and hence unnecessarily speculative assumption. In regard to the assessment of mind and consciousness, a consistent and parsimonious paradigm suggests that mind and consciousness are not part of a chain of events consisting of an admixture of physical and mental events but that physical events form a single coherent set of events, and mental events another set, with the two sets related, as Teirlhard (and a number of other philosophers, including Whitehead) affirmed , as the "within" and the "without" (or the "mental pole" and the "physical pole") of one and the same fundamental reality. This panpsychist as contrasted with Schafer's dualist paradigm provides a single self-consistent framework for the interpretation of quantum (and all natural) events while recognizing the presence of mind in the universe as the least speculative realist implication of our immediate experience of consciousness.
Lycan, William G. “Resisting ?-ism.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 65-71.
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Professor Strawson's paper is refreshing in content as well as refreshingly intemperate. It is salutary to be reminded that even the Type Identity Theory does not entail physicalism as that doctrine is usually understood (since c-fiber firings are not by definition purely physical). And it's fun to consider versions of panpsychism. I can see why Strawson finds his position hard to classify (p.7), and I sympathize. In my title I have cast my own vote for '?-ism' on the grounds that any familiar label would be either misleading or unwieldy. My main purpose here is to assess Strawson's case for panpsychism and then to offer some objections to panpsychism, but first I want to answer an interesting and serious charge he makes against me.
Leighton, Taigen Dan. "The World as Arena of Transformation: Application for a Modern Zen Social Ethic." Religion East & West 6 (2006): 61-71.
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The author argues that the Zen Buddhist tradition has yet to develop a strong social ethic, but that its roots in the Mahayana tradition can provide a basis for developing such an ethic. The author cites the Huayan cosmology of interpenetration of phenomena, the example of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, the teaching of compassion, and the Bodhisattva Precepts as ample grounds for Buddhist action in the area of social justice.
McDaniel, Jay. “A God Who Loves Animals and A Church That Does The Same.” In Good News for Animals? Christian Approaches to Animal Well-Being, eds., Charles Pinches and Jay B. McDaniel. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1993, pp. 75-102.
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Along with Jane Goodall, Marc Bekoff proposes that religion can join science in recognizing that animals have minds of their own; that humans can humbly imagine themselves inside these minds, all the while recognizing their independent integrity; and that, as creatures with psyches, animals deserve respect and care. In his various writings Bekoff offers many hints of what a theology of animal minds might look like and how it might be part of a more comprehensive theology of respect and care for the community of life. Process or Whiteheadian theology offers a way of appreciating Bekoff's insights, linking them with the ecojustice movement, showing how they can be linked with various themes in evolutionary biology, and developing a threefold approach to animal well-being: cosmological, ethical, and spiritual. In so doing, process thought shows how the practice of science, particularly as expressed in cognitive theology, involves a marriage of empathy and observation, which represents science and spirituality at their best.
__________. “The Passion of Christ: Grace Both Red and Green." In Cross Examinations: Readings on the Meaning of the Cross Today, ed. Marit Trelstad. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2006, 196-207.
Miller, James "Daoism and Nature." In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology ed. by Roger S. Gottlieb (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006): 283-309.
Montebello, Pierre. "Univers, Cerveau, Images. La question psychophysiologique chez Bergson." Chromatikon II (2006): 205-218.
Muray, Leslie A. “The Creative Transformation of Higher Education.” Process Papers: An Occasional Publication of the Association for Process Philosophy of Education 10 (May 2006): 5-11.
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In this paper, I shall focus on romance and precision in Whitehead's three-fold rhythm of education: romance, precision, and generalization. I shall also examine how Bernard M. Loomer makes use of these notions in his concepts of size and integrity. Then I shall explore how these ideas might be used in a constructive postmodern model of education using the work of Marcus Ford. Classes I have taught provide practical examples of these ideas.
Nachtomy, Ohad. "Pauline Phemister, Leibniz and the Natural World." Review of Leibniz and the Natural World. Chromatikon II (2006): 255-260.
Nelson, Susan L. “Imagining the Cross: Through the Eyes of Marian Kolodziej.” In Cross Examinations: Readings on the Meaning of the Cross Today, ed. Marit Trelstad. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2006, 165-180.
Oord, Thomas Jay. “Altruism seeks peace.” Science & Theology News 6, no. 9 (May 2006): 8.
Peterson, Gregory R. “Species of Emergence.” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 689-712.
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The category of emergence has come to be of considerable importance to the science-and-religion dialogue. It has become clear that the term is used in different ways by different authors, with important implications. In this article I examine the criteria used to state that something is emergent and the different interpretations of those criteria. In particular, I argue similarly to Philip Clayton that there are three broad ranges of interpretation of emergence: reductive, nonreductive, and radical. Although all three criteria have their place, I suggest that the category of radical emergence is important both for science and theology.
Pope, Stephen J. “Review of Evolution and Ethics: Human Morality in Biological and Religious Perspective,” by Philip Clayton and Jeffrey Schloss. Theological Studies 67, no. 1 (March 2006): 223.
Potschka, Martin. "The Roman Catholic Church and Evolution Theory: Intelligent Design does not Contradict Neodarwinian Logic." Program Malta 2006: ISSEI workshop "evolution" Conference, July 27-28, 2006 Malta.
Polkinghorne, John. "Space, Time, and Causality." Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science 41, no. 4 (December 2006): 975-83.
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The characters of space, time, and causality are issues that are constrained by physics but that require also acts of metaphysical decision. Relativity theory is consistent both with the idea of an atemporal block universe and with a temporal universe of true becoming. Science's account of causal properties is patchy and does not imply the closure of the universe to other forms of causal influence. Intrinsic unpredictabilities offer opportunities for metaphysical conjecture concerning the form that such additional causal principles might take. Different theological understandings of how God relates to time afford legitimate criteria for differing metaphysical decisions about the nature of temporality.
Putz, Oliver. "Hormone-Receptors and Complexity: Putting to Rest Another God of the Gaps?" Theology and Science 4, no. 3 (November 2006): 209-13.
Rader, Dennis R. “Metaphors at War: The Image that Destroys the Image of NCLB.” Process Papers: An Occasional Publication of the Association for Process Philosophy of Education 10 (May 2006): 41-53.
Reeves, Gene. “Kuan-yin.” Dharma World 33 (July/Sept. 2006): 34-9.
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The name of the most popular of all the Buddhist bodhisattvas can be translated as "Regarder of the Cries of the World." Associated with both wisdom and compassion, this bodhisattva has many different protrayal and manifestations, both male and female.
__________. “Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva.” Dharma World 33 (April-June 2006): 44-48.
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In this article, Reeves examines the mythical stories of the Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva. In the Christian New Testament, the Gospel According to John, speaks of "the Word." The Word was with God and was God; the Word "became flesh and dwelt among us." Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva is such a living word, the awakening that can come to us, not just as words spoken and written, but embodied in living beings, and not just in the body of one bodhisattva, but in many different bodies--bodies that are female as well as male, bodies that belong to the lowly as well as to the high, bodies that are nonhuman as well as human. Anyone we meet can be our extremely tall and handsome Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva.
Robinet, André. "L'originalité de la conception du droit naturel chez G. W. Leibniz" Chromatikon II (2006): 219-224.
Verley, Xavier. "Ernst Mach, un physicien philosophe." Chromatikon II, (2006): 111-119.
Rosenthal, David M. “Experience and the Physical.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 117-128.
Stein, Ross L. “The Action of God in the World—A Synthesis of Process Thought in Science and Theology.” Theology and Science 4, no.1 (2006): 51-69.
Russell, Helene Tallon. “We Are One, But We Are Not The Same.” Encounter 67, no. 1 (2006): 75-80.
Ruether, Rosemary Radford. "Religious Ecofeminism: Healing the Ecological Crisis." In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology ed. by Roger S. Gottlieb (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006): 362-75.
Seager, William. “The ‘Intrinsic Nature’ Argument For Panpsychism.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 129-145.
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Strawson's (2006) case in favour of panpsychism is at heart an updated version of a venerable form of argument I'll call the 'intrinsic nature' argument. It is an extremely interesting argument which deploys all sorts of high calibre metaphysical weaponry (despite the 'down home' appeals to common sense which Strawson frequently makes). The argument is also subtle and intricate. So let's spend some time trying to articulate its general form.
Santmire, H. Paul and John B. Jr. Cobb. "The World of Nature According to the Protestant Tradition." In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology ed. by Roger S. Gottlieb (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006): 115-46.
Sia, Santiago. “‘Seeing the Wood by Means of the Trees’: A View on Education and Philosophy.” Process Papers: An Occasional Publication of the Association for Process Philosophy of Education 10 (May 2006): 18-27.
Simmons, Ernest L. “Quantum Perchoresis: Quantum Field Theory and the Trinity.” Theology and Science 4, no. 2 (2006): 137-50.
Schaab, Gloria L. “A Procreative Paradigm of the Creative Suffering of the Triune God: Implications of Arthur Peacocke’s Evolutionary Theology.” Theological Studies 67, no. 3 (September 2006):542-566.
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The question of right speech about the mystery of God in suffering has moved many to discuss theodicy and human freedom, and has persuaded many others to rethink the understanding of God in relation to the world itself. The article focuses on two key concepts in Arthur Peacocke's evolutionary theology to propose a new understanding of the creative suffering of the triune God. It considers this proposal in three particular contexts: feminist theology, ecological praxis, and pastoral ministry.
Schafer, Lothar. "Quantum Reality and the Consciousness of the Universe: Quantum Reality, the Emergence of Complex Order from Virtual States, and the Importance of Consciousness in the Universe.” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 505-32.
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I review some characteristic aspects of quantum reality and make the connection to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's vision and a generally new quantum perspective of biological evolution. The quantum phenomena make it possible to conclude that the basis of the material world is nonmaterial; that the nature of reality is that of an indivisible wholeness; and that elementary particles possess aspects of consciousness in a rudimentary way. The quantum perspective of evolution makes it possible to conclude that the emergence of complex order in the biosphere is not from nothing (ex nihilo) but by the actualization of virtual quantum states—that is, by actualizing empty states which are part of the mathematical structure of material systems, representing a logical order that is not real in a material sense but, predetermined by system conditions, has the potential to become real in quantum jumps. I show haw the existence of virtual states makes it possible to suggest that a transcendent reality underlies the visible order of the world and is immanent to it; and constantly new forms evolve from it.
__________. "A Response to Ervin Laszlo: Quantum and Consciousness.” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 573-82.
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I respond to Ervin Laszlo's suggestions and criticism regarding my essay in this issue of Zygon. Virtual atomic orbitals are used as a model to illustrate the existence of a general realm of potentiality in physical reality from which the actual world emanates. Laszlo's suggestions for "paradigm repair" are supported and accepted as essentially being in agreement with my intentions and as offering highly useful clarifications. I compare virtual states to historic ideas of forms as metaphysical principles of being that inspire thoughts regarding the actions of a Cosmic Consciousness in the processes of the results of verse. Metaphysical and theological interpretations of the results of scientific research are defended, provided that they are not used to interfere a priori with the technical program of scientific research.
__________. "Henry Stapp on Quantum Mechanics, Spirit, Mind, and Morality. Quantum Interactive Dualism: An Alternative to Materialism.” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 599-615.
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Rene Descartes proposed an interactive dualism that posits an interaction between the mind of a human being and some of the matter in his or her brain. However, the classical physical theories that reigned during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are based exclusively on the material/physical part of Descartes' ontology, and they purport to give, in principle, a completely deterministic account of the physically described properties themselves. Second, it requires psychophysical events, called Process 1 interventions by John von Neumann. Neither the content nor the timing of these events is determined, even statistically, by any known law. Orthodox quantum mechanics considers these events to be instigated by choices made by conscious agents. This quantum conception of the mind-brain connection allows many psychological and neuropsychological findings associated with the apparent physical effectiveness of our conscious volitional efforts to be explained in a causal and practically useful way. According to this quantum approach, conscious human beings are invested with degrees of freedom denied to the mechanistic automatons to which classical physics reduced us.
___________. "Science's Conception of Human Being as a Basis for Moral Theory.” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 617-21.
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Niels Bohr stated, and Werner Heisenberg reiterated, that "in the great drama of existence we ourselves are both actors and spectators." Their emphasis stems from the fact that the entry of human beings into physics as actors constitutes the most fundamental philosophical departure of twentieth-century basic physics from its eighteenth- and nineteenth-century forerunners. Those earlier theories claimed that our human conscious thoughts are mere witnesses to, or by-products of, essentially mechanically determined brain processes. In stark contrast, certain conscious decisions that are made by human beings, but that are not determined by any known law, statistical or otherwise, enter irreducibly into orthodox contemporary physical theory. These actions are required to counteract effects of Heiseberg's Uncertainty Principle, which ordains that the physically described process of nature, acting alone, produces not a physical world of the kind we experience but rather a continuous smear of potential possible worlds of the kind we know. This contradiction between theory and experience is resolved in orthodox contemporary physical theory by bringing certain effects of our conscious human choices into the dynamics in essentially the way that we intuitively feel that our conscious intentions affect the physical world, namely via the effects of our intentional efforts on our physically described bodies. The moral implications of this profound change in physics are discussed.
Schiller, Hillel A. “Contextual Perceiving: A New Teaching and Learning Process.” Process Papers: An Occasional Publication of the Association for Process Philosophy of Education 10 (May 2006): 64-9.
Shults, F. LeRon. Review of Deep Religious Pluralism, ed. by David Ray Griffin. (Louisville: Westminister John Knox, 2005). In Religious Studies Review 32, no. 2 (April 2006): 100.
Simmons, Ernest L. “Quantum Perchoresis: Quantum Field Theory and the Trinity.” Theology and Science 4, no. 2 (2006): 137-50.
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The main thesis of this article is that the Trinitarian theological doctrine of perichoresis can be metaphorically interpreted as a form of Divine phase entanglement with the world. Such entanglement would entail non-local, relational holism and superposition through which the immanent unity of the Trinity is economically present in creation. Christ kenoticly empties himself of the immanent perichoresis of the Trinity in order to enter the economic perichoresis of the creation. The Spirit is then contnuing perichoretic love of God sanctifying the creation toward life and fulfillment from within. It is the Trinity in ongoing perichoretic intanglement with the creation, affirming Divine ubiquity and panentheism.
Simons, Peter. “The Seeds of Experience.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 146-150.
Skrbina, David. “Realistic Panpsychism.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 151-157.
Smart, J. J. C. “Ockhamist Comments on Strawson.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 158-162.
Stapp, H. P. “Commentary on Strawson’s Target Article.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 13, no. 10-11 (2006): 163-169.
Stein, Ross L. “The Action of God in the World—A Synthesis of Process Thought in Science and Theology.” Theology and Science 4, no.1 (2006): 51-69.
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A foundational belief of monotheistic religions is that God acts in the world. In this paper, the case is made that divine action has its origins in the molecular world. Within a metaphysical framework of process thought, a hypothesis is constructed in which God's action in the world, God's initial aim for all actualities, is divine motivation of chemical becoming.
Stein, Ross L. "An Inquiry into the Origins of Life on Earth: A Synthesis of Process Thought in Science and Theology." Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science 41, no. 4 (December 2006): 995-1016.
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An initiating event in the development of life on earth is thought to have been the generation of self-replicating catalytic molecules (SRCMs). Despite decades of work to reveal how SRCMs could have formed, a chemically detailed hypothesis remains elusive. I maintian that this is due, in part, to a failure of metaphysics and question this research program's ontologic foundation of materialism. In this essay I suggest another worldview that may provide more adequate ontologuic underpinnings: Whitehead's process philosophy of dynamic, relational becoming. Here we come to see molecules not as unchanging objects but rather as processes that posses the capacity for subjective experience. Molecular transformation is driven by experience, both internal and external. Process thought accounts for the world's creative impulse by positing a God who lures the becoming of all entities toward greater complexity and value. Chemical evolution is now seen as divine motication of molecular becoming and, as such, possesses the potential for introducing true novelty into the world. The "causal joint" between God and world is hypothesized to be an energy transduction at the molecular level that allows divine action without violation of chemical principles of physical laws.
Stevenson, Frank W.. "Zhuangzi's Dao as Background Noise." Philosophy East & West 56, no. 2 (April 2006): 301-331.
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This interpretation of Zhuangzi's Dao, particularly in the "Qi Wu Lun," as "background noise" begins from Zhuangzi's question as to whether any human statements and human language itself can ultimately be distinguished from the "peeps of baby birds." The essay explores a tentative model of Dao that sees it as neither fully "linguistic" nor "non-linguistic" but as "pre-linguistic," the potential ground of emergence of words, statements, and meanings. To develop this model we turn to the notion of background noise in physics, especially as discussed by Michel Serres in his discussion of chaos and information theory. A crucial feature of the Serresian chaos-theory model and also, it is suggested here, of Zhuangzi's Dao is the tendency of hyper-order to return (or switch) back to the initial state of disorder.
Strang, Veronica. "Introduction. Fluidscapes: Water, Identity and the Senses." Worldviews 10, no. 2 (2006): 147-54.
__________. "Substantial Connections: Water and Identity in an English Cultural Landscape." Worldviews 10, no. 2 (2006): 155-77.
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As a material substance, essential to every organic process, water literally constitutes human "being", providing a vital "natural symbol" of sociality and of human-environmental interdependence. Its particular qualities of fluidity and transmutability lend themselves to a stream of metaphors about flows and interconnections, and to ideas about spatio-temporal change and transformation. Moving constantly between internal and external environments, water facilitates scheme transfers between conceptual models of physiological, social and ecological processes. Representing "orderly" flows and balances in each of these; it is vulnerable to pollution at various levels, with concerns about material pollution readily transferred to ideas about social and cultural disorder. In particular, metaphors employing water imagery dominate discourses about individual and cultural identities and the maintenance-or dissolution-of social boundaries.
Sun, George C. H. et al. "Remembering Lewis E. Hahn." Philosophy East & West 56, no. 1 (January 2006): 1-15.
Towne, Edgar A. “The Plausibility of Panentheism.” Encounter 67, no. 3 (2006): 273-95.
Tucker, Mary Evelyn. "Religion and Ecology: Survey of the Field." In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology ed. by Roger S. Gottlieb (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006): 398-418.
van Huyssteen, J. Wentzel. “Emergence and Human Uniqueness: Limiting or Delimiting Evolutionary Explanation?” Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 649-64.
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Philip Clayton's book Mind and Emergence presents a highly sophisticated argument against any kind of uncritical theology that might want to follow science into a world of overly narrow compartmentalized disciplines that do not sufficiently communicate between themselves. Clayton argues persuasively that the basic structure of the phenomenal world is multileveled, with emergent properties and degrees of freedom that cannot be adequately described, predicted, or explained in terms of lower-level phenomena only. Moreover, the various levels of organization are linked to one another by interfaces of mutual constraint in terms of upward and downward causation. The most valuable part of Clayton's argument, however, is that is a philosophy of emergence one must also, if not especially, account for the role of the biological sciences and especially for the influence of human thoughts and skills, human choices and actions, and--one of the most important causes of all--human purposes. Clayton's biggest challenge is that the level of human personhood offers us the only appropriate level to introduce the question of God and the possibility of divine agency I critically evaluate this central claim and its implications not only for the extent of divine influence on the world but also for the scope and limitations of the interdisciplinary dialogue between theology and the sciences.
Verhoeven, Martin. "Buddhist Ideas about No-Self and the Person." Religion East & West 6 (Oct. 2006): 33-51.
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The author argues that the doctrine of no-self, although fundamental to Buddhist teaching, is widely misunderstood as a form of nihilism. The essential teaching is that all phenomena, including the human self, are composites, and that therefore they have no permanent essence of their own. The Buddha did not, however, discount the experience of a self; on the contrary, he held that our attachment to self is the ultimate cause of suffering.
Verley, Xavier. “Cosmologie et Phénoménologie: Whitehead et Merleau-Ponty.” Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Étranger 196, no. 1 (2006): 35-55.
Verley, Xavier. “Whitehead: De la Logique à la Métaphysique de la Vie.” Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Étranger 196, no. 1 (2006): 3-5.
Weekes, Anderson. "The Many Streams in Ralph Pred's Onflow." Review of Onflow. Chromatikon II (2006), 227-244.
Yuan, Jinmei. "The Role of Time in the Structure of Chinese Logic." Philosophy East & West 56, no. 1 (January 2006): 136-152.
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Ancient Chinese logicians presupposed no fixed order in the world. Things are changing all the time. Time, then, plays a crucial role in the structure of Chinese logic. This article uses the concept of "subjective time" and the Leibnizian concept of "possible worlds" to analyze the structure of logic in the Later Mohist Canon and in the logical reasoning of other early Chinese philosophers. The author argues that Chinese logic is structured in the time of the now. This time is subjective and "spreads out" to more than one possible world. Chinese logicians had to deal with relationships in not only a single world but also more than one "possible world." The aim of Chinese logical reasoning is not to represent any universal truth but to point out (zhi ) a particular-world-related truth, or, in other words, the harmony of relations among particulars in a particular field at a single moment. Therefore, a valid Chinese logical argument represents only the beauty of harmony among possible worlds at a given moment. The harmony represented by Chinese logic brings to light a high level of aesthetic order in a world that is always changing.
