Oliver, Harold H. A Relational Metaphysic. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1981.

Abstract:

The author of A Relational Metaphysic proposes a metaphysical system that attempts to provide an alternative to Idealism and Realism, which have historically given priority to the subject and object aspects of experience, respectively. After a survey of Classical and Modern physics, he finds in the latter a principle of relationality that is then utilized to redefine the tasks of metaphysics and theology. Attention is given to the following major figures: Newton, Leibniz, Kant, Whitehead, Ervin Laslo, Bradley, Blanshard, Hartshorne, Buber, and Feuerbach. A metaphysical is outlined and developed to establish the fundamentality of relation, and the derivative status of pseudo-fundamentals, such as subjects, object-things, and object-selves. The author also sets forth a theory of religion and science as complentary aspects of reality. The work culminates in a relational theory of selfhood and a relational hermeneutic of myth.