The Cosmic Lure of Love:
Teilhard, Whitehead, and the Evolution of Sympathy
see also: Moments of Omega: A Thank You Note to Teilhard
Feeling the Feelings of Others
"The primitive form of physical experience is emotional—blind emotion—received as felt elsewhere in another occasion and conformally appropriated as a subjective passion. In the language appropriate to the higher stages of experience, the primitive element is sympathy, that is, feeling the feeling in another and feeling conformally with another."
—Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality (p. 162)
From the very beginning, as Whitehead suggests, matter consisted of momentary energy-events—otherwise called actual entities—that prehend the prehensions, or feel the feelings, of other entities in non-conscious ways and are thereby affected by them. Indeed, the feelings of other entities become part of the emerging entity’s own existence. This is not merely a logical or mechanical relationship; it is an affective, relational one, where sympathy—however primitive—operates at the heart of becoming.
To be sure, an emerging entity does not merely receive these feelings passively; it responds by adding new feelings of its own, thus creating itself as a new entity. An emerging entity is both an empathic reception of the emotions of the past and a self-creative invention of itself. As Whitehead famously puts it, "The many became one, and are increased by one."
Much of this—perhaps all of it—was non-conscious in the early stages. This does not mean it was unimportant or lacking in beauty and purpose. It simply means that it did not take place with conscious intentions or with commitment or with clear and distinct perception. It occurred spontaneously and naturally, within the context of submicroscopic entities such as quarks, gluons, and electrons, interacting within the early fabric of the universe. These fundamental particles, though lacking awareness in any human sense, engaged in a dynamic dance of relationality, prehending each other’s presence and shaping the unfolding structure of reality.
Beyond Particles: The Fluidity of Matter
It is important to recognize that these interactions were not limited to what we conventionally think of as "particles." Matter has many states or phases—not only particles but also waves, fields, and plasmas, each of which participates in the ongoing process of relational becoming. The common conception of matter as exclusively solid and discrete is an illusion. Liquids, gases, and plasmas are as much matter as are solids, and they too partake in the creative, relational dynamism of the universe. The very notion of prehension—of feeling the feelings of others—may be understood as something woven into the fundamental fabric of existence, regardless of its material form.
The Evolution of Love
As matter became more complex, the capacity to prehend the prehensions of others evolved into what we now call sympathy: feeling the feelings of another and responding in ways that acknowledge that feeling. With increasing complexity came greater capacities for sympathy, along with opportunities for richer and more intricate experiences of relationality.
In this way, the evolution of matter is also an evolution of love—or, at the very least, an evolution of the capacities for love, inasmuch as love means feeling the feelings of others and responding in compassionate ways. Love is not simply a human phenomenon, nor is it a latecomer in the cosmic story. The potential for love—the deep interpenetration of experience—was present from the very beginning.
This does not mean that evolution always moves toward love in a straightforward way. Indeed, the process of evolution also involves destruction, tragedy, and loss. The creative advance into novelty includes not only harmonious cooperation but also intense struggle. The emergence of beauty is inseparable from the presence of suffering. The cosmos is shaped by moments of tragic beauty—where love and loss, order and chaos, emerge together in a grand improvisational unfolding.
A Purpose to Evolution?
Is there something purposive about this evolutionary process? Pierre Teilhard de Chardin suggests that there is. He argues that one of the primary purposes of evolution—at every level, from the submicroscopic and microscopic to the stellar, galactic, and, at least on our small planet, biological—is to develop capacities for love and individuation simultaneously. The goal is not only greater complexity but also a deepening of relationality, a growth toward what he calls the Omega Point—a future state in which love becomes fully realized.
Whitehead’s notion of concrescence lends support to this idea by suggesting that the actualities of the universe, from the very beginning, have had this dual capacity: the ability to receive and be affected by others while also responding in ways that foster individuation. Evolution, in this view, is not just a blind mechanism but a movement toward deeper relationality.
Teilhard believes that there is something in the universe that draws evolution in this very direction—a force that leads evolution toward a state where love is all-in-all. He identifies this force with God, understood as the ultimate source and destiny of existence.
Whitehead’s Parallel Vision
Whitehead develops a parallel notion. He envisions the entire evolving universe as unfolding within a larger life—a living Whole with subjectivity of its own—which he calls God. This divine reality is not an omnipotent ruler but an empathic presence, receiving and responding to the experiences of all things. God, in Whitehead’s vision, is both the consequent nature—the one who takes in and weaves together the world’s experiences—and the primordial nature—the source of new possibilities.
Furthermore, Whitehead suggests that this living Whole is not only an empathic recipient of the world’s experiences but also a subtle influence within every emerging subject. God functions as the innermost aim of all actual entities, drawing them toward beauty, richness, and love. In this way, evolution is not simply an aimless process but one subtly guided by a divine lure—a call toward deeper flourishing.
Omega Moments and Pan-Empathic Mysticism
Thus, in both Teilhard’s and Whitehead’s visions, evolution is more than a mechanical unfolding; it is animated by a deeper purposiveness. Whether we describe it as Teilhard’s Omega Point or Whitehead’s divine lure, both perspectives suggest that love and individuation are not incidental to the cosmos—they are at its very heart.
This understanding has significant ethical implications. When we encourage ourselves and others to live with compassion, we are not asking anyone to act against their true nature but rather to be faithful to it. Understood in this way, compassion is not contrary to our identity—it is an expression of it.
There may also be moments in our lives—what I will call Omega moments—in which we vividly experience the reality of shared feeling, so intensely that our individual sense of self falls away. In these moments, we feel at one with others, harmonized in a way that dissolves the usual boundaries of individuality.
An example of this kind of mysticism often occurs in choral singing, where people sing in harmony with one another. The experience transcends mere coordination; individual voices merge into a collective whole, creating a shared presence that is greater than the sum of its parts. Other examples might include moments of deep artistic inspiration, spiritual ecstasy, or profound acts of kindness—any experience in which the self is opened to the greater whole.
This experience, fleeting yet profound, embodies what I will call pan-empathic mysticism—a direct, felt awareness of inter-becoming, where our lives resonate with the larger movements of the cosmos.
Taking the Long View
In these troubled times, when suffering and fragmentation seem ever-present, it is crucial to take the long view. The evolutionary story is still unfolding. We are part of a cosmic drama that stretches across eons, and in our time, we are invited to participate in its movement toward love.
Our choices matter. Every act of compassion, every moment of connection, every effort to deepen our relational awareness is part of the great unfolding. The history of love and matter continues, and we are its co-creators.