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The Function of Reason

By: Alfred North Whitehead
Narrated by: Ray Childs
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Publisher's Summary

Whitehead presented these three lectures at Princeton University in 1929. Although 85 years have passed, his central thesis and his analysis remain remarkably current. The scientific materialism that Whitehead opposed with such vigor continues to dominate in academic circles, and even now those who question that worldview are often accused of being antiscientific. This is especially true in discussions of the nature of the human mind and its relation to the body (particularly the brain).

It is hard to find a contemporary thinker with a better perspective on the nature and role of natural science than Whitehead, who, with Bertrand Russell, published Principia Mathematica in 1910; who taught logic and mathematics at Trinity College of Cambridge University; who taught philosophy of science at University College London; and who was a professor of philosophy at Harvard University beginning in 1924. Whitehead's cosmology is far from antiscientific, but he does explain why scientific method and technological practice alone are not able to provide a comprehensive understanding of the full range of human thought and experience. This work explains what we must do to achieve such a comprehensive understanding.

© Agora Publications

©2015 Agora, New Internet Technologies (P)2015 Agora, New Internet Technologies

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Enriching food for thought

Alfred North Whitehead's exploration of the faculty of reason repays close attention in spades. The questions he poses need to be addressed by anyone who cares about civilized life. Utterly enriching. Be prepared to hit the back button repeatedly.

Unfortunately the narrator sounds at times utterly baffled by the material, placing weird, unnatural emphasis on particular words. It is as though he disapproves or thinks they were errors of expression. At the same time he articulates clearly and hits enough of an intrigued note generally to entice the engaged listener to want to detach the words from the tone and thereby actually comprehend the material. (Perhaps the narrator isn't baffled, I don't know, but I'm not sure that he isn't distracting the reader from the meaning with his emphases,)

All in all, this recording has accompanied me through many walks over the past 12 months, and greatly enriched my thought processes. Whitehead's rational defense of a view of life broader than generally accepted is compelling.

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