A Phenomenological Revision of E. E. Harris's Dialectical Holism

The purpose of this work is to critically assess Errol E. Harris's process philosophy in the face of contemporary research in the special sciences. Harris devoted his life to grappling with the big questions concerning the relationships between nature, mind, and knowledge. His 70-plus year career was distinguished, his texts on the history of philosophy, philosophy of science, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, and consciousness were widely published, and yet his metaphysics has until now remained excluded from mainstream discussions. This book's contention is that Harris's work reveals as yet unnoticed connections between theories in numerous scientific disciplines ranging from psychology to cosmology and that an examination of certain theories within these disciplines may serve to strengthen his original arguments. This work maintains that the resulting metaphysics frames a transdisciplinary paradigm shift and provides a viable solution to the hard problem of consciousness.

Develops the process philosophy and phenomenological ontology of Errol E Harris Explores theoretical connections across disciplines ranging from philosophy of physics to philosophy of mind Argues that enactivist theories of embodied cognition hold many as yet unexplored implications for philosophy of cosmology

Auteur

James Schofield earned a BA in anthropology from Plymouth State University, USA, an MA in consciousness studies from Goddard College, USA, and his PhD in philosophy of science and mind from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. James is currently a lecturer of philosophy at Plymouth State University, USA.

Texte du rabat

The purpose of this work is to critically assess Errol E. Harris s process philosophy in the face of contemporary research in the special sciences. Harris devoted his life to grappling with the big questions concerning the relationships between nature, mind, and knowledge. His 70-plus year career was distinguished, his texts on the history of philosophy, philosophy of science, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, and consciousness were widely published, and yet his metaphysics has until now remained excluded from mainstream discussions. This book s contention is that Harris s work reveals as yet unnoticed connections between theories in numerous scientific disciplines ranging from psychology to cosmology and that an examination of certain theories within these disciplines may serve to strengthen his original arguments. This work maintains that the resulting metaphysics frames a transdisciplinary paradigm shift and provides a viable solution to the hard problem of consciousness.

Contenu
Part 1. An Introduction to Dialectical Holism.- Chapter 1. The Need for a New Metaphysics.- Chapter 2. Harris's Holism and Contemporary Analogues. - Part 2. Dialectical Holism in Contemporary Cosmology. Chapter 3. Dialectical Holism in Space-Time and Particle Physics.- Chapter 4. Harris's Version of the Anthropic Principle.- Part 3. Towards a Dialectical Holist Theory of Evolution.- Chapter 5. Levels of Complexity in the Cosmos.- Chapter 6. A Teleonomic Philosophy of Biology.- Part 4. Dialectical Holism and the Metaphysics of Mind.- Chapter 7. Harris's Reformation of the Hard Problem.- Chapter 8. Bridging Philosophies of Consciousness and Cosmology - The Implications of Harris's System.- Appendix. The Principles of Dialectical Holism.