A. N. Whitehead and Social Theory: Tracing a Culture of Thought

199 Pages·2011·1.162 MB·English

by  Michael Halewood

A. N. Whitehead and Social Theory

A. N. Whitehead and Social
Theory
Tracing a Culture of Thought
Michael Halewood
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition fi rst published in UK and USA 2011
by ANTHEM PRESS
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Copyright © Michael Halewood 2011
The author asserts the moral right to be identifi ed as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Halewood, Michael.
A.N. Whitehead and social theory : tracing a culture of thought /
Michael Halewood.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 978-0-85728-796-0 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Social sciences–Philosophy. 2. Sociology–Philosophy.
3. Whitehead, Alfred North, 1861–1947. I. Title.
H61.15.H34 2011
300.1–dc23
2011028421
ISBN-13: 978 0 85728 796 0 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 0 85728 796 6 (Hbk)
This title is also available as an eBook.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
List of Abbreviations ix
Chapter One
A Culture of Thought – The Bifurcation of Nature 1
Chapter Two
Introducing Whitehead’s Philosophy – The Lure of Whitehead 23
Chapter Three
‘A Thorough-Going Realism’ – Whitehead On Cause
and Conformation 39
Chapter Four
The Value of Existence 63
Chapter Five
Societies, the Social and Subjectivity 79
Chapter Six
Language and the Body – From Signifi cation to Symbolism 105
Chapter Seven
This Nature Which Is Not One 125
Chapter Eight
Capitalism, Process and Abstraction 147
Notes 171
Bibliography 179
Index 185

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many and varied are the people who have helped and supported me during
the process of producing this book; I owe them much and I am grateful. My
initial interest in the work of Whitehead was nurtured by, amongst others,
Andrew Barry (who fi rst introduced me to him), Mariam Fraser, Celia Lury,
Mike Michael and Alberto Toscano. Others who have helped maintain and
develop this engagement are Didier Debaise, Roland Faber, Andy Goffey and
Steven Shaviro. However, over the last ten years or so, it has been Isabelle
Stengers and her work that have most supported, challenged and deepened
my understanding of Whitehead.
Rob Stones provided advice and support for the publication of this book
and Janka Romero at Anthem Press has been a mine of information. Astrid
Lorange’s zesty enthusiasm for the project was much appreciated.
More generally, there are many who have had input. I would like to thank
my parents, Conor Carville, Joe Daniel, Deirdre Lambe, Mark Lawson,
Lynne Pettinger, Darren Thiel, Christian Vaughan-Spruce, Vanessa White,
Alex Wilkie and Anna Maria Grigora¸s.
In April 2010, I used material from a draft version of this book to give three
lectures at the University of Turku and the University of Tampere, both in
Finland. I am grateful to the staff and students of these institutions for their
comments, questions, suggestions and hospitality, especially Seppo Poutanen.
None of the chapters contained in this book is a simple reprint of previously
published material. However, some sections do address themes and use material
which has been published elsewhere. A section of Chapter One was published
in ‘A.N. Whitehead, Information and Social Theory’, Theory, Culture and Society,
22.6 (2005): 73–94. Elements of Chapter Two are from M. Halewood and
M. Michael, ‘Being a Sociologist and Becoming a Whiteheadian: Toward
a Concrescent Methodology’, Theory, Culture and Society, 25.4 (2008): 31–56.
Chapter Four includes material published as ‘Fact, Values, Individuals, and
Others: Towards a Metaphysics of Value’ in R. Faber, B. Henning and C.
Combs (eds), Beyond Metaphysics (New York: Rodopi Press, 2010), 227–47.
Chapter Five includes material from ‘Sociology, Societies, and Sociality’ in
viii A. N. WHITEHEAD AND SOCIAL THEORY
M. Dibben (ed.), Applied Process Thought Volume II (Frankfurt/Lancaster: Ontos
Verlag, 2009), 293–317. A section of Chapter Six was published as ‘Butler
and Whitehead on the (Social) Body’ in R. Faber and A. Stephenson (eds),
Secrets of Becoming. Negotiating Whitehead, Deleuze and Butler (Fordham University
Press: New York, 2011), 107–26. I am grateful for being able to reproduce
these here.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
The following abbreviations have been used for the works of Whitehead
which are cited throughout this text. They have been ordered in terms of
approximate frequency of use.
PR – Process and Reality
AI – Adventures of Ideas
MT – Modes of Thought
SYM – Symbolism. Its Meaning and Effect
SMW – Science and the Modern World
CN – Concept of Nature
SP – Science and Philosophy
RM – Religion in the Making
PRPS – The Principle of Relativity with applications to Physical Science
AE – The Aims of Education and Other Essays