Hartshorne, Charles. “Philosophy After Fifty Years.” In Mid-Twentieth Century American Philosophy, ed. by Peter A. Bertocci. New York: Humanities, 1974: 140-154.

Abstract

Hartshorne writes that by 1918 he had thought out the basis of the philosophical doctrine he still holds. His three enduring convictions have been the fundamental unity in the plurality of experience, the association of deity with this inclusive oneness, and the divine unity as encompassing nonliving as well as living reality.

Later developments clarified the notions that the primary subjects of feelings were feelings of other subjects, and that subjects come into being with the feelings, thus relativizing the notion of self-identity. As a result, a merely immutable deity could only be an empty abstraction. Finally, Hartshorne determined that particularity is in principle arbitrary and that no combination of universal laws and antecedent particulars can fully specify subsequent particulars.

Becoming is creation. Within the limits defined by past environment, chance as well as providence explain just what goods and evils ensue. A deity who could minimize the risks would necessarily trivialize the opportunities.

The notion of personal immortality cannot be used to guarantee a final justice, because justice is always rough and inexact. A better alternative is Whitehead’s “objective immortality.” The feeling that death is an evil rests upon a confusion between the concrete and the abstract. Because the concrete is always perishing anyway, the death of an organism is not a tragedy in itself. Only the discontinuance of the oneness of experience, or deity, would render life absurd, and this notion is itself absurd.

The doctrine of creationism refutes the deterministic bias of utopians for a final state of freedom and vitality that is devoid of conflict. All freedom involves risk. But the rejection of utopia does not mean that all social reform is foolish. Reform does not seek to eliminate risks, but to mitigate the unlucky consequences of freedom.

Finally, love is another aspect of creativity. Self-interest is not the fundamental human motivation. All life is socially dependent and contributory. Each person must participate in the lives of others. (R.B. Mellert, Bronx, NY)

[In Process Studies 5, no. 2 (Summer 1975): 146.]