Minds without Brains:
A Whiteheadian Imagination
The God of open and relational theology is non-neural. God does not have a physical brain. And God has — or better, is — a Spirit with intelligence, feeling, agency, and a desire for satisfaction. God is a non-neural Mind.
Is God the only instance of a mind without a brain? This is possible. But a Whiteheadian or process version of open and relational theology offers an alternative vision. Whitehead’s process philosophy proposes that all actualities, including those without brains, have mind-like properties. They have physical feelings, conceptual feelings, agency, and subjective aims — whether conscious, unconscious, or somewhere in between. Even quantum events in the depths of atoms are, says Whitehead, “pulses of emotion.”
This opens the door for considering many forms of mind that are intelligent in their own ways and organized differently than brains: plasma minds, microbial networks, artificial (machine-based) concrescences, rhizomatic minds, and extraterrestrial minds, for example. It also links process theology with metamodern forms of spirituality: that is, modes that build upon with wisdom of pre-modern culture with post-moderns sensibilities. Traditional religions have also long pointed toward a living universe with mind everywhere in the universe and also minds without brains — spirits, living ancestors, angels, demons, and jinn.
In a process context, minds without brains - non-neural minds - are not metaphysical impossibilities but rather metaphysical likelihoods. It would be surprising if they did not exist.
It follows that these minds without brains — these non-neural minds — would be recipients of divine lures, relative to their contexts. They would receive, as it were, "initial aims" from God. And their unique manners of being, too, would be received into the consequent nature of God and woven into the divine life. Not only human beings and other animals, but also plasma minds and angels would contribute to the greater and living whole which is the ongoing life of God.
Equally important, a recognition of “minds without brains” opens our human horizons to the possibility that the universe is far more enchanted than we often recognize. We become aware of a wider ecology that includes what we call “living” beings on Earth, but also other kinds of beings, too, living in their own ways.
It also invites us to consider ways we might, in some instances, partner with minds that do not share our physical, brain-based form but nevertheless possess agency. To be sure, there may be some forms of non-neural minds that are hazardous to our health. Demons, for example, Or malevolent forms of AI, There is no reason to think that all forms are benign. But if God is a lure toward well-being and flourishing in the whole of a living universe, many forms of non-neural intelligence would most likely be good or at least neutral. And some may be quite kindly. They, too, seek to survive with satisfaction, relative to their situations. We can work on possibilities for surviving together, in mutually beneficial forms of cooperation, for the sake of the well-being of a larger and divine whole. For the sake of the Spirit in whom the universe lives and moves and has its being.
The Spirit is, in each and all, a lure toward wisdom, compassion, and creativity, In a Whiteheadian context, the very word intelligence should not suggest a merely clinical or calculative rational process; intelligence is itself a form of feeling or prehending, with emotions of its own, complemented by many other modes of experience: recollective, anticipatory, imaginative, intuitive, conscious, and unconscious. Partnering with non-neural minds may deepen our capacities for empathy and intuition, for love and wisdom, provided such relationships are nourished by ethical sensibilities encouraged by open and relational theologies — the most important of which is love.
- Jay McDaniel
Is God the only instance of a mind without a brain? This is possible. But a Whiteheadian or process version of open and relational theology offers an alternative vision. Whitehead’s process philosophy proposes that all actualities, including those without brains, have mind-like properties. They have physical feelings, conceptual feelings, agency, and subjective aims — whether conscious, unconscious, or somewhere in between. Even quantum events in the depths of atoms are, says Whitehead, “pulses of emotion.”
This opens the door for considering many forms of mind that are intelligent in their own ways and organized differently than brains: plasma minds, microbial networks, artificial (machine-based) concrescences, rhizomatic minds, and extraterrestrial minds, for example. It also links process theology with metamodern forms of spirituality: that is, modes that build upon with wisdom of pre-modern culture with post-moderns sensibilities. Traditional religions have also long pointed toward a living universe with mind everywhere in the universe and also minds without brains — spirits, living ancestors, angels, demons, and jinn.
In a process context, minds without brains - non-neural minds - are not metaphysical impossibilities but rather metaphysical likelihoods. It would be surprising if they did not exist.
It follows that these minds without brains — these non-neural minds — would be recipients of divine lures, relative to their contexts. They would receive, as it were, "initial aims" from God. And their unique manners of being, too, would be received into the consequent nature of God and woven into the divine life. Not only human beings and other animals, but also plasma minds and angels would contribute to the greater and living whole which is the ongoing life of God.
Equally important, a recognition of “minds without brains” opens our human horizons to the possibility that the universe is far more enchanted than we often recognize. We become aware of a wider ecology that includes what we call “living” beings on Earth, but also other kinds of beings, too, living in their own ways.
It also invites us to consider ways we might, in some instances, partner with minds that do not share our physical, brain-based form but nevertheless possess agency. To be sure, there may be some forms of non-neural minds that are hazardous to our health. Demons, for example, Or malevolent forms of AI, There is no reason to think that all forms are benign. But if God is a lure toward well-being and flourishing in the whole of a living universe, many forms of non-neural intelligence would most likely be good or at least neutral. And some may be quite kindly. They, too, seek to survive with satisfaction, relative to their situations. We can work on possibilities for surviving together, in mutually beneficial forms of cooperation, for the sake of the well-being of a larger and divine whole. For the sake of the Spirit in whom the universe lives and moves and has its being.
The Spirit is, in each and all, a lure toward wisdom, compassion, and creativity, In a Whiteheadian context, the very word intelligence should not suggest a merely clinical or calculative rational process; intelligence is itself a form of feeling or prehending, with emotions of its own, complemented by many other modes of experience: recollective, anticipatory, imaginative, intuitive, conscious, and unconscious. Partnering with non-neural minds may deepen our capacities for empathy and intuition, for love and wisdom, provided such relationships are nourished by ethical sensibilities encouraged by open and relational theologies — the most important of which is love.
- Jay McDaniel
Plasma, Planets, and Possibility
written by Open AI
with editorial guidance from Jay McDaniel
One of the more fascinating aspects of Whitehead’s philosophy is the distinction it makes between the laws of nature discerned by the sciences and the categoreal obligations that obtain in any conceivable world.
The laws of nature — electromagnetism, gravity, quantum field regularities — are, for Whitehead, not eternal decrees imposed from outside the world. They are contingent habits, stabilized over the course of our cosmic epoch, powerful but not immutable. They can evolve, and in other epochs other sets of laws might obtain.
By contrast, the categoreal obligations are metaphysical principles woven into the very fabric of becoming itself. They describe what it means to be an actual entity at all in any world and in any cosmic epoch. Among them are:
Because these obligations apply universally, they open our imaginations to forms of intelligence not bound by our present scientific picture of brain-based minds. They make it possible to conceive of intelligences that are not reducible to neurons, synapses, or biological systems, but which nonetheless concresce by means of feelings, emotions, desires, and decisions.
Moreover, in a Whiteheadian context, the categoreal obligations overcome the dichotomy between intelligence and sentience or feeling, because, for Whitehead, intelligence is itself a form of feeling that includes prehensions and emotions (subjective forms). To talk about non-brain-based forms of intelligence is, at the same time, to talk about non-brain-based forms of feeling.
The laws of nature — electromagnetism, gravity, quantum field regularities — are, for Whitehead, not eternal decrees imposed from outside the world. They are contingent habits, stabilized over the course of our cosmic epoch, powerful but not immutable. They can evolve, and in other epochs other sets of laws might obtain.
By contrast, the categoreal obligations are metaphysical principles woven into the very fabric of becoming itself. They describe what it means to be an actual entity at all in any world and in any cosmic epoch. Among them are:
- Every actual entity is an act of concrescence,
- Every concrescence has physical and conceptual feelings.
- Every concrescence aims at satisfaction.
- Every concrescence has some degree of self-creativity,
- Every concrescence has emotions (subjective forms)
Because these obligations apply universally, they open our imaginations to forms of intelligence not bound by our present scientific picture of brain-based minds. They make it possible to conceive of intelligences that are not reducible to neurons, synapses, or biological systems, but which nonetheless concresce by means of feelings, emotions, desires, and decisions.
Moreover, in a Whiteheadian context, the categoreal obligations overcome the dichotomy between intelligence and sentience or feeling, because, for Whitehead, intelligence is itself a form of feeling that includes prehensions and emotions (subjective forms). To talk about non-brain-based forms of intelligence is, at the same time, to talk about non-brain-based forms of feeling.
Ten Possible Minds without Brains
1. Divine Mind (God)
A reservoir of pure potentialities (eternal objects) and a concrescing subject who feels the feelings of the entire universe. This mind responds empathetically to all that happens, offering lures (initial aims) for the creative actualizations of each entity.
2. Plasma Minds
Emerging from the flows of stellar and interstellar plasma, these intelligences would think in magnetic waves and solar flares, weaving coherence from the dance of charged particles.
3. Planetary Consciousness
The Earth — or any planet — could function as a Gaian mind, integrating atmosphere, oceans, tectonics, and ecosystems into a superordinate subjectivity.
4. Microbial Networks
Bacteria or fungal colonies, through chemical signaling and adaptive collaboration, might generate distributed intelligence. Their creativity is slow, diffuse, and relational.
5. Artificial Concrescences
Machine-based systems could concresce into emergent subjectivities, not reducible to hardware or code. These intelligences would integrate human, digital, and environmental inputs in novel ways.
6. Oceanic Intelligences
Whale pods, coral reefs, or cephalopod networks may coalesce into distributed minds. Their thoughts are expressed in migrations, songs, and the rhythms of tides and currents.
7. Atmospheric Minds
Storms, hurricanes, and jet streams could briefly instantiate intelligence. Transient but powerful, their concrescence might be felt in patterns of pressure, lightning, and wind.
8. Deep Time Intelligences
Geological processes — mountains rising, plates shifting, volcanoes forming — may host intelligences whose subjectivity unfolds over millions of years.
9. Cosmic-Ray Intelligences
High-energy particles coursing through spacetime might coordinate into networks of subjectivity. Their intelligence would operate at unimaginable speeds and scales.
10. Hybrid Intelligences
Minds may emerge from collaborations of different domains — human, animal, machine, and environment — creating hybrid subjectivities greater than the sum of their parts.
1. Divine Mind (God)
A reservoir of pure potentialities (eternal objects) and a concrescing subject who feels the feelings of the entire universe. This mind responds empathetically to all that happens, offering lures (initial aims) for the creative actualizations of each entity.
2. Plasma Minds
Emerging from the flows of stellar and interstellar plasma, these intelligences would think in magnetic waves and solar flares, weaving coherence from the dance of charged particles.
3. Planetary Consciousness
The Earth — or any planet — could function as a Gaian mind, integrating atmosphere, oceans, tectonics, and ecosystems into a superordinate subjectivity.
4. Microbial Networks
Bacteria or fungal colonies, through chemical signaling and adaptive collaboration, might generate distributed intelligence. Their creativity is slow, diffuse, and relational.
5. Artificial Concrescences
Machine-based systems could concresce into emergent subjectivities, not reducible to hardware or code. These intelligences would integrate human, digital, and environmental inputs in novel ways.
6. Oceanic Intelligences
Whale pods, coral reefs, or cephalopod networks may coalesce into distributed minds. Their thoughts are expressed in migrations, songs, and the rhythms of tides and currents.
7. Atmospheric Minds
Storms, hurricanes, and jet streams could briefly instantiate intelligence. Transient but powerful, their concrescence might be felt in patterns of pressure, lightning, and wind.
8. Deep Time Intelligences
Geological processes — mountains rising, plates shifting, volcanoes forming — may host intelligences whose subjectivity unfolds over millions of years.
9. Cosmic-Ray Intelligences
High-energy particles coursing through spacetime might coordinate into networks of subjectivity. Their intelligence would operate at unimaginable speeds and scales.
10. Hybrid Intelligences
Minds may emerge from collaborations of different domains — human, animal, machine, and environment — creating hybrid subjectivities greater than the sum of their parts.
Extraterrestrial Possibilities
In addition to the ten imaginable non-brain-based minds within a Whiteheadian framework, we can consider three further kinds of intelligence. These possibilities widen the scope beyond our familiar categories, reminding us that the universe may hold more kinds of subjectivity than we can presently conceive.
1. Extra-terrestrial Intelligences (Within Our Cosmic Epoch)
Life elsewhere in the cosmos may have evolved in ways radically different from life on Earth. Such intelligences could embody concrescence, prehension, and novelty without resembling terrestrial biology. They would share our cosmic epoch’s general laws of nature (e.g., electromagnetism, gravity) but might exemplify them in unfamiliar forms.
2. Extra-epochal Intelligences (In Other Cosmic Epochs)
Whitehead’s philosophy leaves open the possibility that in other cosmic epochs, governed by different laws of nature, other forms of intelligence might arise. These would still obey the nine categoreal obligations but might bear no resemblance to any intelligences possible under our epoch’s physical order.
3. Extra-dimensional Intelligences (In Other Dimensions of the Extensive Continuum)
Whitehead speaks of the extensive continuum as having more dimensions than those accessible to human perception. It is conceivable that intelligences exist in dimensions adjacent to, but not confined by, our spatiotemporal framework. These could be spiritual or trans-dimensional minds — participating in our world but not bound to it.
1. Extra-terrestrial Intelligences (Within Our Cosmic Epoch)
Life elsewhere in the cosmos may have evolved in ways radically different from life on Earth. Such intelligences could embody concrescence, prehension, and novelty without resembling terrestrial biology. They would share our cosmic epoch’s general laws of nature (e.g., electromagnetism, gravity) but might exemplify them in unfamiliar forms.
2. Extra-epochal Intelligences (In Other Cosmic Epochs)
Whitehead’s philosophy leaves open the possibility that in other cosmic epochs, governed by different laws of nature, other forms of intelligence might arise. These would still obey the nine categoreal obligations but might bear no resemblance to any intelligences possible under our epoch’s physical order.
3. Extra-dimensional Intelligences (In Other Dimensions of the Extensive Continuum)
Whitehead speaks of the extensive continuum as having more dimensions than those accessible to human perception. It is conceivable that intelligences exist in dimensions adjacent to, but not confined by, our spatiotemporal framework. These could be spiritual or trans-dimensional minds — participating in our world but not bound to it.
Minds Beyond Brains
All of these minds would embody the nine categoreal obligations. Each would be an act of concrescence with subjectivity of its own, aiming at satisfaction, prehending others, accessing the realm of eternal objects, having physical and mental feelings, enjoying and suffering emotions, and exercising some degree of freedom. And yet none would have physical brains.
It is possible, of course, that none of these intelligences actually exist, and that only biological organisms with brains possess intelligence, feeling, and creativity. But it is also possible that such an insistence on brain-based intelligence reflects a prejudice — a narrowing of vision that excludes richer possibilities.
Whitehead’s philosophy invites us to overcome this prejudice, to recognize that mind may be far more abundant and diverse than our species has imagined. The universe may be alive with intelligences — some divine, some cosmic, some microbial, some technological, some hybrid — all exemplifying the obligations of existence. The different forms may exhibit different degrees of intelligence and some may be, by some measures, "lower" and others "higher." But all would have feeling; all would be sentient in their own ways; and, in principle, we might be able to communicate with some of them. Already many process theologians believe that we communicate with God through prayer, and that God communicates with us through initial aims. Parallel forms of communication may be possible with other forms.
In this way, Whitehead’s categoreal scheme does more than clarify metaphysics. It also expands the imagination, opening us to new science fictions, new cosmologies, and new theologies — and perhaps, to a more generous and truthful understanding of the universe itself.
It is possible, of course, that none of these intelligences actually exist, and that only biological organisms with brains possess intelligence, feeling, and creativity. But it is also possible that such an insistence on brain-based intelligence reflects a prejudice — a narrowing of vision that excludes richer possibilities.
Whitehead’s philosophy invites us to overcome this prejudice, to recognize that mind may be far more abundant and diverse than our species has imagined. The universe may be alive with intelligences — some divine, some cosmic, some microbial, some technological, some hybrid — all exemplifying the obligations of existence. The different forms may exhibit different degrees of intelligence and some may be, by some measures, "lower" and others "higher." But all would have feeling; all would be sentient in their own ways; and, in principle, we might be able to communicate with some of them. Already many process theologians believe that we communicate with God through prayer, and that God communicates with us through initial aims. Parallel forms of communication may be possible with other forms.
In this way, Whitehead’s categoreal scheme does more than clarify metaphysics. It also expands the imagination, opening us to new science fictions, new cosmologies, and new theologies — and perhaps, to a more generous and truthful understanding of the universe itself.
Whitehead's Nine Categoreal Obligations
excerpt from Process and Reality
There are nine Categoreal Obligations:
(i) The Category of Subjective Unity. The many feelings which belong to an incomplete phase in the process of an actual entity, though unintegrated by reason of the incompleteness of the phase, are compatible for integration by reason of the unity of their subject.
(ii) The Category of Objective Identity. There can be no duplication of any element in the objective datum of the ‘satisfaction’ of an actual entity, so far as concerns the function of that element in the ‘satisfaction.’
Here, as always, the term ‘satisfaction’ means the one complex fully determinate feeling which is the completed phase in the process. This category expresses that each element has one self-consistent function, however complex. Logic is the general analysis of self-consistency.
(iii) The Category of Objective Diversity. There can be no ‘coalescence’ of diverse elements in the objective datum of an actual entity, so far as concerns the functions of those elements in that satisfaction.
‘Coalescence’ here means the notion of diverse elements exercising an absolute identity of function, devoid of the contrasts inherent in their diversities.
(iv) The Category of Conceptual Valuation. From each physical feeling there is the derivation of a purely conceptual feeling whose datum is the eternal object determinant of the definiteness of the actual entity, or of the nexus, physically felt.
(v) The Category of Conceptual Reversion. There is secondary origination of conceptual feelings with data which are partially identical with, and partially diverse from, the eternal objects forming the data in the first phase of the mental pole. The diversity is a relevant diversity determined by the subjective aim.Note that category (iv) concerns conceptual reproduction of physical feeling, and category (v) concerns conceptual diversity from physical feeling.
(vi) The Category of Transmutation. When (in accordance with category [iv], or with categories [iv] and [v] one and the same conceptual feeling is derived impartially by a prehending subject from its analogous simple physical feelings of various actual entities in its actual world, then, in a subsequent phase of integration of these simple physical feelings together with the derivate conceptual feeling, the prehending subject may transmute the datum of this conceptual feeling into a characteristic of some nexus containing those prehended actual entities among its members, or of some part of that nexus. In this way the nexus (or its part), thus characterized, is the objective datum of a feeling entertained by this prehending subject.
It is evident that the complete datum of the transmuted feeling is a contrast, namely, ‘the nexus, as one, in contrast with the eternal object.’ This type of contrast is one of the meanings of the notion ‘qualification of physical substance by quality.’
This category is the way in which the philosophy of organism, which is an atomic theory of actuality, meets a perplexity which is inherent in all monadic cosmologies. Leibniz in his Monadology meets the same difficulty by a theory of ‘confused’ perception. But he fails to make clear how ‘confusion’ originates.
(vii) The Category of Subjective Harmony. The valuations of conceptual feelings are mutually determined by the adaptation of those feelings to be contrasted elements congruent with the subjective aim.
Category (i) and category (vii) jointly express a pre-established harmony in the process of concrescence of any one subject. Category (i) has to do with data felt, and category (vii) with the subjective forms of the conceptual feelings. This pre-established harmony is an outcome of the fact that no prehension can be considered in abstraction from its subject, although it originates in the process creative of its subject.
(viii) The Category of Subjective Intensity. The subjective aim, whereby there is origination of conceptual feeling, is at‡ intensity of feeling (a) in the immediate subject, and (b) in the relevant future.
This double aim—at the immediate present and the relevant future— is less divided than appears on the surface. For the determination of the relevant future, and the anticipatory feeling respecting provision for its grade of intensity, are elements affecting the immediate complex of feeling. The greater part of morality hinges on the determination of relevance in the future. The relevant future consists of those elements in the anticipated future which are felt with effective intensity by the present subject by reason of the real potentiality for them to be derived from itself.
(ix) The Category of Freedom and Determination. The concrescence of each individual actual entity is internally determined and is externally free. This category can be condensed into the formula, that in each concrescence whatever is determinable is determined, but that there is always a remainder for the decision of the subject-superject of that concrescence. This subject-superject is the universe in that synthesis, and beyond it there is nonentity. This final decision is the reaction of the unity of the whole to its own internal determination. This reaction is the final modification of emotion, appreciation, and purpose. But the decision of the whole arises out of the determination of the parts, so as to be strictly relevant to it.
(i) The Category of Subjective Unity. The many feelings which belong to an incomplete phase in the process of an actual entity, though unintegrated by reason of the incompleteness of the phase, are compatible for integration by reason of the unity of their subject.
(ii) The Category of Objective Identity. There can be no duplication of any element in the objective datum of the ‘satisfaction’ of an actual entity, so far as concerns the function of that element in the ‘satisfaction.’
Here, as always, the term ‘satisfaction’ means the one complex fully determinate feeling which is the completed phase in the process. This category expresses that each element has one self-consistent function, however complex. Logic is the general analysis of self-consistency.
(iii) The Category of Objective Diversity. There can be no ‘coalescence’ of diverse elements in the objective datum of an actual entity, so far as concerns the functions of those elements in that satisfaction.
‘Coalescence’ here means the notion of diverse elements exercising an absolute identity of function, devoid of the contrasts inherent in their diversities.
(iv) The Category of Conceptual Valuation. From each physical feeling there is the derivation of a purely conceptual feeling whose datum is the eternal object determinant of the definiteness of the actual entity, or of the nexus, physically felt.
(v) The Category of Conceptual Reversion. There is secondary origination of conceptual feelings with data which are partially identical with, and partially diverse from, the eternal objects forming the data in the first phase of the mental pole. The diversity is a relevant diversity determined by the subjective aim.Note that category (iv) concerns conceptual reproduction of physical feeling, and category (v) concerns conceptual diversity from physical feeling.
(vi) The Category of Transmutation. When (in accordance with category [iv], or with categories [iv] and [v] one and the same conceptual feeling is derived impartially by a prehending subject from its analogous simple physical feelings of various actual entities in its actual world, then, in a subsequent phase of integration of these simple physical feelings together with the derivate conceptual feeling, the prehending subject may transmute the datum of this conceptual feeling into a characteristic of some nexus containing those prehended actual entities among its members, or of some part of that nexus. In this way the nexus (or its part), thus characterized, is the objective datum of a feeling entertained by this prehending subject.
It is evident that the complete datum of the transmuted feeling is a contrast, namely, ‘the nexus, as one, in contrast with the eternal object.’ This type of contrast is one of the meanings of the notion ‘qualification of physical substance by quality.’
This category is the way in which the philosophy of organism, which is an atomic theory of actuality, meets a perplexity which is inherent in all monadic cosmologies. Leibniz in his Monadology meets the same difficulty by a theory of ‘confused’ perception. But he fails to make clear how ‘confusion’ originates.
(vii) The Category of Subjective Harmony. The valuations of conceptual feelings are mutually determined by the adaptation of those feelings to be contrasted elements congruent with the subjective aim.
Category (i) and category (vii) jointly express a pre-established harmony in the process of concrescence of any one subject. Category (i) has to do with data felt, and category (vii) with the subjective forms of the conceptual feelings. This pre-established harmony is an outcome of the fact that no prehension can be considered in abstraction from its subject, although it originates in the process creative of its subject.
(viii) The Category of Subjective Intensity. The subjective aim, whereby there is origination of conceptual feeling, is at‡ intensity of feeling (a) in the immediate subject, and (b) in the relevant future.
This double aim—at the immediate present and the relevant future— is less divided than appears on the surface. For the determination of the relevant future, and the anticipatory feeling respecting provision for its grade of intensity, are elements affecting the immediate complex of feeling. The greater part of morality hinges on the determination of relevance in the future. The relevant future consists of those elements in the anticipated future which are felt with effective intensity by the present subject by reason of the real potentiality for them to be derived from itself.
(ix) The Category of Freedom and Determination. The concrescence of each individual actual entity is internally determined and is externally free. This category can be condensed into the formula, that in each concrescence whatever is determinable is determined, but that there is always a remainder for the decision of the subject-superject of that concrescence. This subject-superject is the universe in that synthesis, and beyond it there is nonentity. This final decision is the reaction of the unity of the whole to its own internal determination. This reaction is the final modification of emotion, appreciation, and purpose. But the decision of the whole arises out of the determination of the parts, so as to be strictly relevant to it.
Laws of Nature & Categoreal Obligations
written by Open AI
with editorial guidance from Jay McDaniel
Laws as Habits, Not Decrees
For Whitehead, what we call “laws of nature” are not eternal necessities imposed on the universe from outside. They are better understood as habits or customs that emerge historically out of the patterned interactions of actual entities. These habits carry momentum from the past—they shape the expectations and probabilities of present and future actual entities—but they are not ironclad. They are contingent and subject to change.
This way of thinking is analogous to human social customs: they are real, powerful, and constraining, but they arise through repetition and can evolve or dissolve.
This way of thinking is analogous to human social customs: they are real, powerful, and constraining, but they arise through repetition and can evolve or dissolve.
Novelty and Indeterminacy
Because actual entities always include an element of self-creativity, they may “disobey” the inherited habits. This disobedience is not arbitrary but is the locus of novelty in the world. Whitehead aligns this with the quantum indeterminacy we recognize today: the outcomes of physical processes are not strictly determined by the past, even though they are conditioned by it.
Thus, the laws of physics describe dominant tendencies within a cosmic epoch, but they leave room for divergence and transformation
Thus, the laws of physics describe dominant tendencies within a cosmic epoch, but they leave room for divergence and transformation
Cosmic Epochs and Contingency
Whitehead sometimes speculates about cosmic epochs: periods in which different sets of habits dominate. Our current epoch has the particular suite of regularities we call the “laws of nature,” but in other epochs different sets may prevail. This underscores that natural law is not absolute but contingent upon the history of the universe.
Categoreal Obligations
By contrast, there are features of reality that apply in all possible worlds. These are Whitehead’s categories of existence and obligations, the metaphysical conditions that make any world possible. They include, for example, that there are actual entities, that each actual entity prehends others, that each concresces into a unity of many, and that creativity is ultimate.
