Kelley, Thomas. "Self as Dialogue-in-Process: A Whiteheadian Reading of the Confessions of
Augustine." Process Thought and East Asian
Culture: Philosophy and Korean Culture
1-9.[Conference paper
presented at The 5th International Whitehead Conference] Seoul, South
Korea, May 25-27.2004.
Abstract
The
purpose of this paper is to sketch an ontology
capable of handling the self, using the work of Saint
Augustine as
guide. Before
presenting my paper I must make two remarks by way of a preface.
Firstly I am
not an Augustine specialist, although Augustine’s philosophy interests
me
deeply; but in any case it is not my intention here to carry out mere
textual
exegesis. Secondly, I would not wish to minimize the distance on many
issues between
Whitehead and Augustine have something valuable to say and we would do
well to
try to capture this in a synoptic vision, which collects and transcends
both—which
I think you’ll agree would be a nice example of concrescence. It is
that, at
least in sketch form, which I shall attempt here.