Abstract
Despite its lack of influence in analytical philosophy, and independently of its content as a process philosophy, Whitehead's system in Process and Reality affords a valuable lesson on how to pursue revisionary systematic metaphysics. This paper argues the case generally for metaphysical revision and system, describes the structure of Whitehead's categorial scheme, endorses his idea of an ultimate which is not an entity, and outlines an alternative, “digital” ultimate or basis composed of several analytical factors.
[I]n the absence of a well-defined categoreal scheme of entities, issuing in a satisfactory metaphysical system, every premise in a philosophical argument is under suspicion.
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Simons, P. Metaphysical Systematics: A Lesson from Whitehead. Erkenntnis 48, 377–393 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005421309919
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005421309919