Introduction

Process philosophy can be understood as encompassing three distinct yet interrelated types, which we might think of as forming the vertices of a triangle. Each type offers a unique orientation within the broader field of process thought, while remaining dynamically connected to the others.

The first type is speculative process philosophy, exemplified by thinkers like John Cobb and David Griffin. This approach is deeply interested in Alfred North Whitehead's metaphysical worldview, particularly as articulated in Process and Reality. Speculative process philosophers seek to explore the broader implications of Whitehead’s metaphysical ideas, including his doctrine of God, for understanding reality in a systematic and comprehensive way.

The second type is empirical process philosophy, represented by figures such as Bernard Meland and Bernard Loomer. This approach is less focused on Whitehead’s metaphysical system or theological claims and more attentive to the insights that process thought brings to the study of lived experience. Empirical process philosophers emphasize Whitehead’s contributions to understanding processes like feeling, contrast, beauty, and creativity as they appear in human life and the natural world.

The third type is mathematical process philosophy, which prioritizes Whitehead’s use and development of symbolic logic as a tool for understanding the nature of reality. This approach is primarily concerned with Whitehead’s mathematical and logical contributions, treating them as a language for exploring the deep structures of existence. It is less focused on his theological ideas (as in speculative philosophy) or their application to lived experience (as in empirical philosophy), instead highlighting his technical innovations in logic and their implications.
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Together, these three types form the vertices of a triangle--speculative, empirical, and mathematical. This triangular structure helps us see how each orientation provides a distinct perspective while contributing to the larger field of process philosophy. A thinker might align more closely with one vertex or find themselves situated somewhere within the triangle, blending aspects of all three. The metaphor emphasizes their interdependence and the richness they collectively bring to process thought.

Grounded Wisdom
Whitehead's Metaphysics as a Path to Mindfulness

Whitehead writes:

"The true method of discovery is like the flight of an aeroplane. It starts from the ground of particular observation; it makes a flight in the thin air of imaginative generalization; and it again lands for renewed observation rendered acute by rational interpretation. The reason for the success of this method of imaginative rationalization is that, when the method of difference fails, factors which are constantly present may yet be observed under the influence of imaginative thought. Such thought supplies the differences which the direct observation lacks. It can even play with inconsistency; and can thus throw light on the consistent, and persistent, elements in experience by comparison with what in imagination is inconsistent with them. The negative judgment is the peak of mentality."
I want to focus on the moment of "renewed observation," when the airplane has landed back on the ground. At this stage, observation itself is guided by Whitehead's eight categories of existence. These categories serve as a lens—a set of metaphysical "eyeglasses," if you will—through which we interpret what we observe. When this guidance occurs, we engage in what might be called empirical metaphysics, as distinct from speculative metaphysics.

Speculative and Empirical Metaphysics

Speculative metaphysics corresponds to the "flight" stage of Whitehead’s metaphor. It soars into abstraction, considering ideas and categories of existence removed from specific instantiations or exemplifications. Speculative metaphysics is conceptual, often abstract, and expressed in Latinate or technical language. It elucidates universal principles like relativity, becoming, value, potentiality, and actuality. While intellectually powerful, its language can seem removed from lived experience—neither poetic nor grounded in concrete realities.

Empirical metaphysics, by contrast, stays grounded, focusing on lived human experience. It seeks to discern how abstract categories of existence manifest in the world we encounter and in ourselves. Its aim is mindfulness: a heightened awareness of what is always already present in experience. Empirical metaphysics often finds its truest expression in poetry, storytelling, visual art, film, or dance.

Whitehead’s philosophy lends itself uniquely to empirical metaphysics because, for him, actual occasions of experience are metaphysical realities in their own right. They are irreducible to abstract principles and provide a direct encounter with reality. Thus, to reflect on lived moments of experience is, in Whiteheadian terms, to engage in metaphysics—even if the term itself remains unspoken.

The Centrality of Experience in Metaphysics

In Process and Reality, Whitehead identifies eight categories of existence, with actual entities (or actual occasions) taking center stage. These moments of experience form the foundation of actuality itself. By emphasizing actual entities, Whitehead invites us to anchor our metaphysical inquiries in the immediacy of experience, making empirical metaphysics a natural complement to speculative metaphysics.

Yet speculative metaphysics remains vital. Sometimes we must “fly away” into abstraction, framing our experiences within broader, universal concepts. However, the purpose of this flight is not to control the world intellectually but to return to it with greater attentiveness and love. Speculative metaphysics enriches empirical metaphysics by offering a wider lens through which to see the concrete world.

Integrating the Two Modes of Metaphysics

Both speculative and empirical metaphysics are essential. Each provides unique insights, and neither alone is complete. Speculative metaphysics gives us the broader framework, while empirical metaphysics keeps us connected to the world’s tangible reality. Together, they foster a balance of intellectual exploration and heartfelt mindfulness.

Through this integration, metaphysics becomes not only a tool for understanding the world but also a practice of loving attentiveness to life’s particularities. It grounds us in the present moment while opening us to deeper insights into the universal rhythms of existence.

What is There to Be Mindful Of?

When practicing empirical metaphysics, we cultivate mindfulness by attending to the underlying patterns and dynamics that constitute our experience. Whitehead’s eight categories of existence provide a framework for this mindfulness, serving as a lens through which we can discern the deeper structures of reality. Additionally, Whitehead’s concepts of creativity and God, along with the dynamics of memories, anticipations, ideals, bodily experience, and acts of thinking and imagining, enrich this framework, guiding us toward an appreciation of the spontaneous, relational, embodied, and conceptual aspects of existence.

What is There to Be Mindful Of?

When practicing empirical metaphysics, we cultivate mindfulness by attending to the underlying patterns and dynamics that constitute our experience. Whitehead’s eight categories of existence provide a framework for this mindfulness, serving as a lens through which we can discern the deeper structures of reality. Additionally, Whitehead’s concepts of creativity, God, and process, along with the dynamics of memories, anticipations, ideals, bodily experience, and acts of thinking and imagining, enrich this framework, guiding us toward an appreciation of the spontaneous, relational, temporal, and embodied aspects of existence.

Here are the sixteen elements to be mindful of:

1. Moments (Actual Occasions of Experience):
   These are the fundamental building blocks of reality—moments of experience that constitute the world. Each actual occasion is both a subject experiencing and an object influencing others.
2. Feelings (Prehensions):
   The ways in which actual entities take account of one another. Prehensions can be positive (feeling or integrating another) or negative (ignoring or rejecting another). They are the basis of relationality and connection.
3. Groups (Nexus):
   Societies or clusters of actual entities interconnected through prehensions. These groups are the foundation of enduring structures in the world, from atoms to ecosystems to communities.
4. Subjective Forms (Emotions and Purposes):
   The felt qualities of prehensions—how an actual entity experiences its relations with others. These include emotions, intentions, moods, and valuations, giving texture and direction to experience.
5. Pure Potentialities (Eternal Objects, Including Mathematics):
   Abstract potentials or possibilities that actual entities incorporate into their becoming. Eternal objects encompass qualities such as colors, shapes, sounds, and patterns, as well as mathematical forms and relationships. These potentials influence the unfolding of reality and provide the structure for both physical and conceptual worlds.
6. Propositions (Inwardly Felt Ideas and Lures for Feeling):
   Potential patterns of relationship or possibility that actual entities consider in their decision-making. Propositions are inwardly felt ideas—concepts or imaginings that serve as lures for new feelings, inspiring creativity and introducing novelty into the process of becoming.
7. Multiplicity:
   The coexistence of diverse actual entities, eternal objects, and relations. This diversity forms the basis for complexity, creativity, and richness in existence.
8. Contrasts:
   The integration of diverse elements into a unified experience. Contrasts highlight how differences can coexist harmoniously, enhancing the depth and richness of life.
9. Creativity:
   The spontaneous self-creativity of each actual entity as it emerges in the moment. Creativity is the ultimate reality in Whitehead’s philosophy, driving the “creative advance into novelty.” It reflects the freedom of each entity to shape itself in response to its environment.
10. God:
    An inwardly felt lure toward satisfying forms of wholeness. In Whitehead’s metaphysics, God is not an external ruler but an immanent presence offering possibilities for beauty, harmony, and intensity. God’s relational nature invites creatures to participate in the ongoing creation of the world.
11. Memories (The Power of the Past):
    The influence of past experiences, shaping the present through the retention and integration of what has been. Memories provide stability and continuity, grounding the self in a history of relationships, decisions, and events.
12. Anticipations (The Lure of the Future):
    The pull of unrealized possibilities, guiding present actions toward imagined or desired outcomes. Anticipations reflect how the future influences the present, inviting entities to respond creatively to what could be.
13. Relevant Ideals (Beauty, Truth, and Goodness):
    Aspirational standards that inspire and guide the unfolding of experience. Ideals such as beauty, truth, and goodness offer a vision of harmony, coherence, and ethical value, shaping the aims of individuals and communities alike.
14. Bodily Experience (Experience in the Mode of Causal Efficacy):
    The immediate, visceral sense of being embedded in a physical world. Bodily experience reflects how the past influences the present through the body’s interactions with its environment. This is experience in the mode of causal efficacy—feeling the presence of the world’s forces, rhythms, and textures as they shape our being.
15. Act of Thinking and Imagining (Conceptual Prehensions):
    The capacity to reflect, conceptualize, and imagine possibilities. Conceptual prehensions allow entities to abstract from immediate experience and engage in symbolic thinking, enabling creativity, problem-solving, and envisioning alternative futures. Thinking and imagining bring depth to decision-making and broaden the horizon of what is possible.
16. Process (Concrescence and Perishing):
    The dynamic flow of existence, understood as the transition from the present to the past (perishing) and the subjective act of becoming in the present (concrescence). Process is the heartbeat of reality, where experiences take shape, achieve completion, and contribute to the ongoing creativity of the world.

Mindfulness in Practice

To be mindful of these sixteen elements is to observe how they unfold in our daily experiences and relationships. It is to notice the moments of connection (prehensions), the potentials for novelty (eternal objects, including mathematics), the propositions as felt lures toward possibility, the contrasts that enrich our lives, and the grounding power of the past (memories). It is to feel the forward pull of unrealized possibilities (anticipations), the guiding presence of ideals such as beauty, truth, and goodness, the grounding immediacy of bodily experience (causal efficacy), the expansiveness of thinking and imagining (conceptual prehensions), and the dynamic flow of process (concrescence and perishing).
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In this mindfulness, we also sense the creative power in the present moment and discern the lure of God as an invitation toward greater wholeness and beauty. Through this attentiveness, metaphysics becomes a tool not only for understanding reality but also for deepening our engagement with life. By attending to these facets of existence, we cultivate a loving awareness of the richness of the world and our place within it.