Charles Hartshorne

Book review of Bruce Epperly's Process Theology: A Guide for the Perplexed.

American theologian Henry Nelson Wieman is given a search­ing examination in this volume of appraisals by eighteen contemporary scholars, representing a broad spectrum of religious affiliation. The essayists do not all agree with Wieman but they do agree that they are dealing with a theologian of stature. One of the great teachers of the twentieth century, from the University of Chicago, Mr. Wieman has profoundly influenced a whole generation of theological students, and through his books and other writings has communicated (...) effectively with countless readers, both lay and clergy. (shrink)

Since Hartshorne rejects Whitehead's doctrine of eternal objects, this seems to deny Hartshorne's God any causal influence via providing initial subjective aims to the world's creatures. If there are no specific eternal objects as possibilities to be actualized by creatures, there can be no specific initial aims. Hartshorne's metaphysics, however, can be rendered coherent at this point by interpreting the initial aims as hierarchies of indeterminate possibilities which are not specific until rendered so by creatures. Such an interpretation is coherent (...) with his doctrine of possibility understood as a hierarchy of indeterminate potentiality. A further issue remains, nevertheless, in regard to Hartshorne's claim that the possibilities offered by God to creatures are both infinite and yet limited. It is difficult to see how they can be both. (shrink)

This chapter is a rethinking of my earlier “The Ages of Beauty” which investigated Charles Hartshorne’s Diagram of Aesthetic Values. The argument is placed in a long history of beauty being considered as the middle between extremes. It slowly develops into a structure not merely of aesthetic experience but of existence itself, making it a competitor of Heidegger’s fourfold.

Constructions of the animal and animality are often pivotal to religious discourses. Such constructions create the possibility of identifying and valuing what is "human" as opposed to the "animal" and also of distinguishing human beliefs and behaviors that can be characterized as being animal from those that are "truly human." Some discourses also employ the concept of savagery as a bridge between the human and the animal, where the form of humanity but not its ideal beliefs and practices can be (...) displayed. This paper explores the work of the influential scientist, philosopher, and theologian A. N. Whitehead in this context. His ideas of what constitutes "the animal," the "primitive" and the "civilized" are laid out explicitly in his now little-used history of religions text, Religion in the Making. This paper explores these ideas in this history and then considers how the same ideas permeate his currently more popular philosophical and theological writing Process and Reality. Drawing on some work in post-colonial theory, the paper offers a critique of this understanding of animality, savagery, and civilization and suggests that using Whitehead to underpin modern theological work requires considerable caution. (shrink)

Charles Hartshorne: Neoclassical Metaphysics Charles Hartshorne was an intrepid defender of the claims of metaphysics in a century characterized by its anti-metaphysical genius. While many influential voices were explaining what speculative philosophy could not accomplish or even proclaiming an end to it, Hartshorne was trying to show what speculative philosophy could accomplish. Metaphysics, he … Continue reading Hartshorne, Charles: Neoclassical Metaphysics →.

Charles Hartshorne: Biography and Psychology of Sensation Charles Hartshorne is widely regarded as having been an important figure in twentieth century metaphysics and philosophy of religion. His contributions are wide-ranging. He championed the aspirations of metaphysics when it was unfashionable, and the metaphysic he championed helped change some of the fashions of philosophy. He counted … Continue reading Hartshorne: Biography and Psychology of Sensation →.

Charles Hartshorne: Theistic and Anti-Theistic Arguments Charles Hartshorne is well known in philosophical circles for his rehabilitation of Anselm’s ontological argument. Indeed, he may have written more on that subject than any other philosopher. He considered it to be the argument that, more than any other, reveals the logical status of theism. Nevertheless, he always … Continue reading Hartshorne Theistic and Anti-Theistic Arguments →.

Charles Hartshorne: Dipolar Theism From the beginning to the end of his career Charles Hartshorne maintained that the idea that “God is love” was his guiding intuition in philosophy. This “intuition” presupposes both that there is a divine reality and that that reality answers to some positive description of being a loving God. This article … Continue reading Hartshorne, Charles : Dipolar Theism →.

This study argues that Hartshorne, after he makes a promising beginning in developing a metaphysics that allows for the attainment of value, fails adequately to distinguish success from failure in the attainment of value. This study then further argues that Abhidhamma Buddhist philosophy, which begins with metaphysical doctrines which are remarkably similar to Hartshorne's doctrines, draws conclusions which are both more consistent with these doctrines and more conducive to distinguishing value from dis-value. ;This study finds that Hartshorne's beginning is especially (...) promising in that he reformulates process philosophy to meet the demands of contemporary logic and semantics. Despite criticisms of metaphysics from logicians and semanticists Hartshorne ably defends the rationality of metaphysical claims, in particular claims concerning unit occasions and how they allow for freedom, which is crucial for the attainment of value. ;Following this beginning, however, Hartshorne's philosophy gets into difficulty through the implication that whatever occurs is an instance of value. The ideal of this philosophy, the divinity, is present to the events of the world to ensure that they instantiate value. ;This study then argues that Abhidhamma Buddhist philosophy is useful for correcting this difficulty. The ideal of this philosophy, Nibbana, is a goal that is possible to attain, but the attainment of the goal is dependent on individual effort. ;This effort, in turn, follows criteria which indicate to the individual whether the quest for the goal is succeeding or failing. These criteria, in turn, follow principles of intelligibility, testability, and meaning; one finds that there is a goal to attain, and a path leading to the goal, through individual verification. The relation of the path to the goal, in turn, is an intelligible causal relation. ;Not only, then, does Abhidhamma Buddhist philosophy succeed where Hartshorne fails in determining the practical matter of value, but also in determining the theoretical matter of satisfying logical and semantic criteria. This study concludes that a philosophy needs to determine truth in order to determine value, and Abhidhamma Buddhist philosophy is more promising with respect to determining truth than Hartshornian process philosophy. (shrink)

The philosophical system of Charles Hartshorne is arguably one of the most comprehensive and persuasive metaphysical systems worked out in the twentieth century. His a priori approach to resolving metaphysical questions is as original in the context of modern thought as it is compelling. He has clarified and fortified a Whiteheadian alternative to traditional substantivalist thinking as well as the Neo-classical alternative to traditional theism. ;At the same time, the work of Hartshorne presents what must be regarded as one of (...) the most forceful challenges to the traditional Christian world view. As we argue in this work, such traditional Christian ideas as special revelation, creation and salvation by grace, as well as the Incarnation are necessarily ruled out within the framework of his system. The most fundamental reason for this conflict, we argue, is that Hartshorne's system necessitates a God who must relate to the world out of metaphysical necessity whereas the traditional Christian view of God portrays God as self-sufficient in this One's triunity, and thus relating to the world not out of necessity but out of grace. ;The question this work attempts to answer is this: is it possible for one to retain the many positive features of Hartshorne's metaphysics while avoiding the radically unorthodox implications of his system? ;It is the central thesis of this work that one can answer this question in the affirmative. We here argue that when a few corrections, modifications, and supplementations are made in the fundamental a priori structure of Hartshorne's system, the system ends up actually requiring a view of God as internally related and self-sufficient rather than the Neo-classical view of God as di-polar. And what is more, these alterations, far from compromising the explanatory capacity of his system, actually improve its capacity. Hence, Hartshorne's metaphysical system can be reconstructed in such a way that it actually lays the groundwork for a triunitarian metaphysics. (shrink)

The thesis of this dissertation is that the category of freedom is an ultimate metaphysical category in the thought of Charles Hartshorne, and that it is the main category around which all of his philosophy of religion is developed. Interpreters of Hartshorne would acknowledge freedom as a category in his thought, but not necessarily the main or ultimate category in his thought. This dissertation will show this by using an internal analysis of Hartshorne's own writings and examining the major themes (...) of his philosophy to show how the category of freedom is an ultimate metaphysical category in Hartshorne's thought. Chapter one will examine classical theism's adaptation of Greek metaphysics. Chapter two will examine Hartshorne's critical response to classical ism and his panentheistic alternative. Chapter three will define the meaning of freedom in Hartshorne's thought and its relationship to panentheism. Chapter four will examine ingression and eternal objects and how Hartshorne understands this doctrine in relationship to the category of freedom. Chapter five will examine Hartshorne's doctrine of temporal possibility in relationship to the category of freedom. Chapter six will examine Hartshorne's theodicy in relationship to the category of freedom. Chapter seven is the conclusion to the dissertation where I will summarize the arguments of each chapter and state my conclusion. (shrink)