ABOUT THIS BOOK

Process Philosophy surveys the basic issues and controversies surrounding the philosophical approach known as “process philosophy.” Process philosophy views temporality, activity, and change as the cardinal factors for our understanding of the real—process has priority over product, both ontologically and epistemically. Rescher examines the movement’s historical origins, reflecting a major line of thought in the work of such philosophers as Heracleitus, Leibniz, Bergson, Peirce, William James, and especially A. N. Whitehead.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Nicholas Rescher is Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh and co-chairman of the Center for Philosophy of Science. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has served as president of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, the Leibniz Society of North America, the Charles S. Peirce Society, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the Metaphysical Society of America. Rescher is the author or editor of more than one hundred books, including Ignorance (On the Wider Implications of Deficient Knowledge), Philosophical Inquiries: An Introduction to Problems of Philosophy, and A Journey through Philosophy in 101 Anecdotes.

REVIEWS

“What emerges from Rescher’s work is a picture of process philosophy that is very “broad church” but one that does not admit eternal verities, such as unchanging Platonic universals. This is a thoughtful, well-written, and illuminating book. Highly recommended.”

—Choice

“In this major study, Nicholas Rescher examines the historical origins of the domestic movement known as “process philosophy,” exploring in depth its contribution to an understanding of nature and human nature. Process Philosophy is a carefully researched and much-needed review by one of the foremost philosophers in North America. This well-crafted volume will be a valuable contribution to the literature.”

—Jude P. Dougherty, Catholic University of America

“Process Philosophy is fascinating reading, and makes a fine case for process philosophy, a subject in dramatic need of explication and application. As a positive reconstruction of process philosophy at its best, the book is a veritable tour de force. No one can read the book without coming to an appreciation of the force and relevance of process philosophy for contemporary philosophical discourse.”

—Robert Francis Almeder, Georgia State University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Preface

1. The Promise of Process Philosophy

2. The Idea of Process

3. The Revolt against Process

4. Human Agency as Process

5. Cognitive Processes and Scientific Progress

6. The Cognitive Process and Metaphysical Realism

7. Process Philosophy and Historicist Relativism

8. Process Philosophy and Monadological Metaphysics

Notes

Name Index

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