Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

ENFORMATIONISM

A philosophical worldview or belief system grounded on the 20th century discovery that Information, rather than Matter, is the fundamental substance of everything in the universe. It is intended to be the 21st century successor to the ancient worldviews of Materialism and Idealism. An Update from Bronze Age to Information Age. It's also a Theory – of – Everything that covers, not just matter & energy, but also Life & Mind & Love.

  Post 142.  February 20, 2025

  The Point of Process Philosophy

     Focus on Whole Systems instead of Particulars

 In post 141 I discussed the evolutionary theory of A. N. Whitehead. But on the forum, one doubter asked, “So, what is the point of 'Process Philosophy'?” And another asked, “What are its ethical implications?”

I can't say with any authority, what Whitehead's "point" was. But my takeaway is that he was inspired by the counterintuitive-yet-provable "facts" of the New Physics of the 20th century ─ that contrasted with 17th century Classical Physics ─ to return the distracted philosophical focus :
a> from what is observed (matter), to the observer (mind), b> from local to universal, c> from mechanical steps to ultimate goals. Where Science studies percepts (specifics ; local ; particles), the New Philosophy will investigate concepts (generals ; universals ; processes). The "point" of that re-directed attention was the same as always though : basic understanding of Nature, Reality, Knowledge, and Value¹.

Our senses & intuitions are inherently "tuned" to macro-scale Newtonian mechanics. Which is why quantum things and processes seem weird. During the 19th century, Physical Science had been very successful in allowing one species to take control of their environment. Consequently, the prag-matic victories scored by Matter-manipulating Physics & Chemistry, had put theoretical Philosophy in a bad light. And, when their former role as the captains of academia diminished in market value, philosophers began to suffer from "lab coat envy". Consequently, today, on this very forum, speculative & argumentative philosophy is often disparaged as useless, unless it can point to empirical evidence. Many TPF posters seem to have taken the attitude : if you can't beat them (science) join them (Scientism).

On the other hand, Whitehead seemed to envision, in the light of quantum physics, a new direction for Natural Philo-sophy. Instead of continuing the ancient quest of Atomism, for the ultimate particle of matter, philosophers should now turn their attention to Wholes instead of Parts. From this new/old perspective, the Cosmos is not just a swirling mass of matter/energy, but an evolving process metaphysically moving on toward some future state. Exactly what that Omega Point might be is of course unknown, but its direction, like the arrow of time, can be inferred from the trajectory of its history.

Modern materialistic Science has been superbly successful in wresting control of Nature for the benefit of a few featherless big-brain bipeds. But Metaphysical Philosophy is not mainly concerned with such practical matters. Instead, it studies intellectual questions of Meaning & Value. By contrast, Science per se is not interested in Ethics other than Utility : such as the very successful Atom bomb project, aimed at annihilating cities. So, the Ethics of Science² seems to be a philosophical endeavor tacked-on after the fact : as when Oppenheimer lamented, "I have become Death, destroyer of worlds".

1. Point of Philosophy vs Science :

# Science deals in evidence while philosophy deals in arguments

# Science looks for empirical knowledge and facts, while philosophy often focuses on abstract ideas and values

# Science is about descriptive facts; philosophy is often about that, but is also about normative and evaluative truths

# Science looks at what is, while philosophy looks at why it exists.

2. Ethics of Materialism :
Materialism is a philosophy that prioritizes material things over spiritual or intellectual ones. Materialistic ethics are ethical theories that are based on the idea that the only things that exist are matter, energy, and physical forces.
https://www.google.com/search?client=fi ... aterialism

Note --- By contrast, Process Philosophy understands that whole systems also exist as the "more than" matter. The whole is more than the sum of the parts.

Parts plus Process = Systems

Blog Post 142 continued . . . click Next