Mun, Chang-Ok.  “Speculation as 'Adventures of Ideas.'" The Journal of Whitehead Studies 5 (2002): 7-18.

Abstract

A task of Whiteheadian philosophy is to challenge various abstract ideas which have dominantly influenced human thougts. He uses two methods to approach this task, one of which is imaginative generalization, and the other is rationalization. Imaginative generalization is 'like the flight of aeroplane' which stems from the ground of particular observations. It throws light on the consistent and persistent elements in our experiences which we can, otherwise, never discover through the method of difference. Whitehead terms such a generalization 'the abstraction from actuality', which is analogous to Plato's analysis. Rationalization systematizes the ultimate general ideas which are the products of abstraction from actuality in a coherent and consistent manner. This method is termed 'the abstraction from possibility,' that could be regarded as a class of synthesis, and the concept is in contrast to Plato's analysis. 

Whitehead constructs his cosmological scheme by making full use of these two methods, and his criticisms on the traditional abstract ideas are reasoned by such a scheme. In this respect, his speculation of 'adventures of ideas' defies the criticism that it is out of the modes of Western thoughts.