Cosmology Study Guide - part last



 

 

excerpts from Process and Reality

by Alfred North Whitehead

existence and Explanation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

illustrated with Krazy Kat comic strips

 

by          George Herriman

 

Excerpts from Alfred North Whitehead's work Process and Reality with explanatory illustrations consisting of Krazy Kat comic strips by George Herriman. Footnote defining many terms

may be found in a previous post here.

(22)   That an actual entity by functioning in respect to itself plays diverse roles in self-formation without losing its self-identity. It is self-creative; and in its process of creation transforms its diversity of roles into one coherent role. Thus ‘becoming’ is the transformation of incoherence into coherence, and in each particular instances ceases with this attainment.



(23)   That this self-functioning is the real internal constitution of an actual entity. It is the immediacy’  of  the actual entity. An actual entity is called the ‘subject’ of its own immediacy.

(24)   The functioning of one actual entity is the self-creation of another actual entity [(and) ‘is’] the ‘objectification’ of the former for the latter actual entity. The functioning of an eternal object in the self-creation of an actual entity is the ‘ingression’ of the eternal object in the actual entity.

(25)   The final phase in the process of concrescence, constituting an actual entity, is one complex, fully determinate feeling. This final phase is termed the ‘satisfaction.’ It is fully determinate  (a)  as to its genesis,  (b)  as to its objective character for the transcendent creativity, and  (c) as to its prehension—positive or negative—of every item in its universe.



 (26)   Each element in the genetic process of an actual entity has one self-consistent function, however complex, in the final satisfaction.

(27)   In a process of concrescence, there is a succession of phases in which new prehensions arise by integration of prehensions in antecedent phases. In these integrations ‘feelings’ contribute their ‘subjective forms’ and their ‘data’ to the formation of novel integral prehensions; but ‘negative prehensions’ contribute only their ‘subjective forms.’ The process continues till all prehensions are components in the one determinate integral satisfaction.

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Cosmology Study Guide - third part

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Excerpts from Alfred North Whitehead's work Process and Reality with explanatory illustrations consisting of Krazy Kat comic strips by George Herriman. Footnote defining many terms

may be found in a previous post here.

 

☮☮

Process and Reality by Alfred North Whitehead; text drawn from the

Corrected Edition 1978 The Free Press Ó Respective copyright holder.

☮

Krazy Kat by George Herriman   ÔKFS Ó Respective copyright holder.

☮☮☮

(15)  That a proposition is the unity of certain actual entities in their potentiality for forming a nexus, with its potential relatedness partially defined by certain eternal objects which have the unity of one complex eternal object. The actual entities involved are termed the ‘logical subjects,’ the complex eternal object is the ‘predicate.’

(16)  That a multiplicity consists of many entities, and its unity is constituted by the fact all its constituent entities severally at least one condition which no other entity satisfies.

  Every statement about a particular multiplicity can be expressed as a statement referent either  (a)  to all its members severally, or  (b)  to an indefinite some of its members severally, or  (c)  as a denial of one of these statements. Any statement, incapable of being expressed in this form, is not a statement about a multiplicity, though it may be a statement about an entity closely allied to some multiplicity, i.e. systematically allied to each member of some multiplicity.

 

 

(17)  That whatever is a datum for a feeling has a unity as felt. Thus the many components of a complex datum have a unity: This unity is a ‘contrast’ of entities. In a sense this means that there are an endless number of categories of existence, since the synthesis of  entities into a contrast in general produces of ‘human understanding,’ it is sufficient to consider a few basic types of existence, and to ‘lump’ the more derivative types together under the heading of ‘contrasts.’ The most important of such ‘contrasts’ is the ‘affirmation-negation’ contrast in which a proposition and a nexus obtain synthesis in one datum, the members of the nexus being the ‘logical subjects’ of the proposition.

 

 

(18)  That every condition to which the process of becoming conforms in any particular instance has its reason either in the character of some actual entity in the world of that concrescence, or in the character of the subject which is in process of concrescence. This category of explanation is termed the ‘ontological principle.’ It could also be termed the ‘principle of efficient, and final, causation.’  This ontological principle means that actual entities are the only reasons; so that to search for a reason is to search for one or more actual entities. It follows that any condition to be satisfied by one actual entity in its process expresses  a fact either about the ‘real internal constitutions’ of some other actual entities, or about the ‘subjective aim’ conditioning that process.

   (…^†).  Also the ordinary logical account of ‘propositions’ expresses only a restricted aspect of their role in the universe, namely, when they are the data of feelings whose subjective forms are those of judgments. It is an essential doctrine the philosophy of organism that the primary function of a proposition is to be relevant as a lure for feeling. For example, some propositions are the data of feelings with subjective forms such as to constitute those feelings to be the enjoyment of a joke. Other propositions are felt with feelings whose subjective forms are horror, disgust, or indignation. The ‘subjective aim,’ which controls the becoming of a subject, is that subject feeling a proposition with the subjective form of purpose to realize it in that process of self-creation.

 

 

 

(19)   That the fundamental types of entities are actual entities, and eternal objects; and that the other types of entities only express how all entities of the two fundamental types are in community with each other, in the actual world. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(20)   That  to ‘function’ means to contribute determination to the actual entities in the nexus of some actual world. Thus the determinateness and self-identity of one entity cannot be abstracted from the community of the diverse functioning of all entities. ‘Determination’ is analyzable into ‘definiteness’ and ‘position,’ where ‘definiteness’ is the illustration of select eternal objects, and position is ‘relative status’ in a nexus of actual entities.

(^†here I excised reference to variations on John Locke.)

Cosmology Study Guide - second part

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🐢

🐢

 

Excerpts from Alfred North Whitehead's work Process and Reality with explanatory illustrations consisting of Krazy Kat comic strips by George Herriman. Footnote defining many terms

may be found in my previous post here.

☮☮

Process and Reality by Alfred North Whitehead; text drawn from the

Corrected Edition 1978 The Free Press Ó Respective copyright holder.

☮

Krazy Kat by George Herriman   ÔKFS Ó Respective copyright holder.

☮☮☮

(8)  That two descriptions are required for an actual entity:  (a)  one which is analytical of its potentiality for ‘objectification’ in the becoming of other actual entities, and  (b)  another which is analytical of the process which constitutes its own becoming.

        The term ‘objectification’ refers to the particular mode in which the potentiality of one actual entity is realized in another actual entity.



 (9)  That how an actual entity becomes constitutes what that actual entity is; so that the two descriptions of an actual entity are not independent. Its ‘being’ is constituted by its ‘becoming.’ This is the ‘principle of process.’

 (10)  That the first analysis of an actual entity, into the most concrete elements, discloses it to be a concrescence of prehensions, which have originated in its process of becoming. All further analysis is an analysis of prehensions.  Analysis in terms of prehensions is termed ‘division.’



 (11)  That every prehension consists of three factors:  (a)  the ‘subject’ which is prehending, namely, the actual entity in which that prehension is a concrete element;  (b)  the ‘datum’ which is prehended;  (c)  the ‘subjective form’ which is how  that subject  prehends that datum.

    Prehensions of actual entities—i.e., prehensions whose data involve actual entities—are termed ‘physical prehensions’; and prehensions of eternal objects are termed ‘conceptual prehensions.’ consciousness is not necessarily involved in the subjective forms of either type of prehension.

 (12)  That there are two species of prehensions:  (a) ‘positive prehensions’ which are termed ‘feelings,’ and  (b) ‘negative prehensions’ which are said to ‘eliminate from feeling’ Negative prehensions also have subjective forms. A negative prehension holds its datum as inoperative in the progressive concrescence of prehensions constituting the unity of the subject.

 (13)  That there are many species of subjective forms, such as emotions, valuations, purposes, aversions, consciousness, etc.

 

(14)  That a nexus is a set of actual entities in the unity of the relatedness constituted by their prehensions of each-others, or—what is the same thing conversely expressed—constituted by their objectifications in each other.

 

 

Cosmology Study Guide - first part

 

         

excerpts from Process and Reality

by Alfred North Whitehead

existence

and

Explanation

 

 

        

 

 

 

 illustrated with Krazy Kat comic strips 

 

 

 

 

                                               by George Herriman

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

a study guide by Comic Book Shaman

                                                                                       

☮☮☮

Process and Reality by Alfred North Whitehead; text drawn from the

Corrected Edition 1978 The Free Press Ó Respective copyright holder.

☮

Krazy Kat by George Herriman   ÔKFS Ó Respective copyright holder.

☮☮☮

Do Big Words Turn You Off?

Well this work by Alfred North Whitehead is the mother-load of big words used in dizzying combination and compound constructions. All for good reason, I see because generally, big words exist in the universe to express specific, complex meanings. Why use one big word when a short phrase or combination of simple words can do the job? It is because as our sentences grow longer and are composed of more words that are simple and less specific there is an ever greater potential distortion of meaning between the speaker and the audience.

I have appended footnotes defining many terms employed for my own reference in studying this work. In separate study of Whitehead and Bertrand Russell’s work Principia Mathematica, I could ‘hear’ Russell’s voice clearly in the writing from having enjoyed a number of his books. So I decided to seek out Whitehead’s writing to get a flavor of the differences of thought between these two great minds. In reading Process and Reality I can clearly see that the system described in Principia Mathematica was his basis of constructing this complex work of cosmology in organic philosophy.   

This quote from the previous work has inspired me in my metaphysical studies: “It will be found that owing to the weakness of the imagination in dealing with simple abstract ideas no very great stress can be laid upon their obviousness.“  In the study of any metaphysical system, mono-theistic religions, Eastern ethical systems like Buddhism, Hinduism etc., or secular Western philosophies one sees the metaphysics variously carried by subjective contemporary narratives meant to convey the ideas expressed. Unfortunately too often the message is altered with perceptions of the subject, because the subject is easily remembered, while the metaphysics must be assimilated into our consciousness and more our subconscious to be employed, and in doing so it may not come so easily to mind.

I hold George Herriman as the greatest American poet of the Twentieth Century, and that his medium comic strips is unsurpassed as an expressive art form. I love his work, including Krazy Kat, above all other cartoonists. I hope these strips, chosen quickly as they seemed to apply to each explanation, help enlighten them.

 

 

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The Categories of Existence

There are eight Categories of Existence:

(i)           Actual Entities¹ (also termed Actual Occasions) or Final Realities.

(ii)          Prehensions,² or Concrete Facts of Relatedness.

(iii)        Nexūs (plural of Nexus³), or Public⁴ Matters of Fact.

(iv)        Subjective Forms, or Private⁵ Matters of Fact.

(v)         Eternal Objects,⁶ or Pure Potentials for the Specific Determination⁷ of Fact, or Forms of Definiteness.

(vi)        Propositions, or Matters of Fact in Potential Determination⁸, or Impure Potentials⁹ for the Specific Determination of Matters of Fact, or Theories.

(vii)      Multiplicities, or Pure Disjunctions¹⁰ or Diverse Entities.

(viii)     Contrasts, or ‘Modes of Synthesis’¹¹ of Entities in one Prehension, or Patterned Entities.¹²

Among these eight categories of existence, actual entities and eternal objects stand out with a certain extreme finality. The other types of existence have a certain intermediate character. The eighth category includes an indefinite progression of categories, as we proceed from ‘contrasts’ to ‘contrasts of contrasts,’ and so on to higher grades of contrasts.

¹Actual entity: a real being, material or metaphysical substance existing now or as a fact or by vivid description.

²prehensions: taking hold, grasping, mental understanding or apprehension by the senses.

³Nexus: a connected group or series as, or connected to, a center or focus.

⁴Public: accessible to or shared by all members of the community.

⁵Private: restricted to the individual or arising independently of others.

⁶Eternal object: an object of continuous duration including functions, data, variables and other elements that constitute the subject matter of an investigation or science.

⁷Specific determination: in a specific case, the act or process of determining fixed purposes, resolution, or adherence to a definite line of action.

⁸Potential determination: Latent, but possibly capable of anything but not an actual determination.

⁹Impure: mixed, adulterated, foul, or unchaste determinations.

¹⁰Disjunction: disunion, severance, alternative possibilities.

¹¹Modes of Synthesis: manner, form, or method, one’s custom or fashion of combining parts into a whole (the opposite of analyze).

¹²Patterned entities: a model, example or guide one commonly applies to entities

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The Categories of Explanation

There are twenty-seven Categories of Explanation

(1)     That the actual world is a process,¹³ and that the process is the               becoming¹⁴ of ‘actual entities.’ Thus the actual entities are creatures; they are also termed ‘actual occasions.

 

(2)     That in the becoming of the actual entity, the potential unity of many entities in disjunctive diversity – actual and non-actual – acquires the real unity of the one actual entity; so that the actual entity is the real concrescence¹⁵ of many potentials.

 

(3)     That in the becoming of an actual entity, novel¹⁶ prehensions, nexus, subjective forms, propositions, multiplicities, and contrasts, also become; but there are no ‘novel eternal.



¹³Process:  something going on, a continuing action or function, a series of actions or operations conducting to an end.

¹⁴Becoming:  to come into existence or to undergo change or development.

¹⁵Concrescence:  increase by the addition of pieces, a growing together or coalescence.¹⁶Novel: new and not resembling formerly known or used, original or especially striking in conception or style.

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 (4)     That the potentiality for being an element in a real concrescence of many entities into one actuality is the one general metaphysical character attaching to all entities, actual and non-actual; and that every item in its universe is involved in each concrescence. In other words, it belongs to the nature of a ‘being’ that it is a potential for every ‘becoming.’ This is the ‘principle of relativity.’



              (5)  That no two actual entities originate from an identical universe; though the difference between the two universes only consists in some actual entities, included in one and not the other, and in the ‘subordinate  entities’¹⁷ which each actual entity introduces into the world. The eternal objects are the same for all actual entities. The nexus of actual entities in the universe correlate to a concrescence termed ‘the actual world’ (that) correlate to that concrescence.

 

 

(            (6)  That each entity in the universe of a given concrescence can so far as    its own nature is concerned, be implicated in the concrescence in one or    other of many modes; but in fact it is implicated only in one mode: that    the particular mode of implication is only rendered fully determinate by     that concrescence, though it is conditioned by the correlate universe.    This indetermination, rendered determinate in the real concrescence, is the meaning of ‘potentiality.’ It is a ‘conditioned  indetermination,’¹⁸  
        and is therefore called a ‘real potentiality’.¹⁹   

(7)That an eternal object can be described only in terms of its
 potentiality for ‘ingression’²⁰ into the becoming of actual entities;
and that its analysis only discloses other eternal objects. It is a pure potential. The term ‘ingression’ refers to the particular mode in
which the potentiality of an eternal object is realized in a particular
actual entity, contributing to the definiteness of that actual entity.

 

¹⁷Subordinate entity:entity that is placed in, or occupying a lower class, rank, or position by       

      by the introduction of an actual entity.

¹⁸ Conditioned indetermination: existing or stipulated of a determination not precisely determined, or known in advance, or having an infinite number of solutions.

¹⁹Real potentiality:the actual ability to develop or come into existence.

²⁰Ingression:the act, ability, power, or liberty of entrance or access.



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hanBLOGlaka - Logical Philosophy in American Indian Thought and Perception

This blog examines the metaphysical process Whitehead and Russell developed in Principia Mathematica, and which i percieve as the basis was the basis of devising the lectures that evolved into Whitehead's Process and Reality only a few years later.