Replies

Charles, I’m with you there. I think I wrote this entry before reading Griffin’s chapter where he describes coining panexperientialism as a term that aligned closer to Whitehead’s thinking. I like how you framed “some form of experience is ubiquitous” as the point that differentiates and grounds panexperientialism. I fully appreciate moving beyond panpsychism and the confusion with consciousness that emerges when using that term.

My roots and love of panpsychism go back to the pre-Socratic Anaxagoras and the heretic Bruno who was burned at the stake by the Church in 1600. Both were labeled panpsychists when I was introduced to them long ago, but finding them planted the understanding that there is a stream in Western thought that carries this idea. So, my appreciation for panpsychism is partly about swimming with those ancients and heretics who are part of a traditional stream of thought that has been labeled that way.

After reading Griffin, seeing his reasoning, and hearing what you have shared, I appreciate why Whiteheadians prefer to use panexperientialism. It would be hard to use panexperiential with Anaxagoras and Bruno, but the term might be extended to thinkers like Arne Naess, the deep ecologist. I’ll have to think about that one. I’m not sure if Naess commented on Whitehead, but some of his language aligns, like referring to himself as a “possibilitist,” especially since Whitehead actual occasions shimmering with possibilities.

As always, thanks for deepening my thinking and adding one more thing to consider and explore.

Thanks, Dr. Davis. I love the quote from SMW, which I marked the first time I read the book last month. Thanks also for pounding away that our experience is part of nature because we are part of nature. There is no separation. It’s experience all the way down and all the way up….

Wow! Thank you again.
I’m at rolla.lewis52@gmail.com or rolla.lewis@csueastbay.edu.

Both work. The edu might take large files easier, but that’s just a guess.

With gratitude,

I grew up with buckeyes in CA but we do not have them in Portland, OR, where I have live. We do have horse chestnuts that were brought in by German immigrants to shade their beer breweries. We have two large horse chestnut trees in front of our house. The squirrels bury the chestnuts all over our yard.

Buckeyes bring back memories of place and how the native peoples in CA put the nuts in streams to leach out the tannin. Then they would grind the nuts. An Miwok elder told me once that he much preferred black oaks to buckeyes and other oaks….

On apples. We have a lot of apples in Oregon and Washington. The cider industry is growing in a way that we seem to have some new craft cider every week. Since they are craft ciders, many are quite expensive; $12.00 for a 12 ounce bottle is not uncommon. I’m amazed. When visiting family in Switzerland, where there is a long tradition making cider, I find the price point is similar to soda or an everyday beer.

I guess the point is to appreciate the beauty and special foods your region offers…. I’ll try to avoid free association next round…

Charles, Again, thank you. The position you take, the resources you provide, and generosity of spirit are much appreciated. I have to say after looking up Michel Weber’s Pancreativism: The Basics, I was shocked at the sticker price. I hope my library can get a copy via Interlibrary loan. I’ll deal with that another day, and regardless, I am grateful.

I am beginning to see that there is a small but very dedicated Whiteheadian scholarly community. It makes me wonder.

[Rolla Lewis]

Ben, thank you for posing the Spinoza question. You opened up a line of inquiry that is important to me.

Charles, your response helps me a lot. Thanks for another illuminating entry. Do you know of sources that explore this Spinoza thread as you do? I think that is where I am dancing. I have always been informed by Spinoza via deep ecology (Arne Naess, George Sessions, etc.). Your description above is a clear illustration of what has drawn me to study Whitehead. There are gaps in deep ecology that Whitehead addresses. I’m still curious about pantheism vs. panentheism.

We are clearly in a course that will emphasize the panentheistic thread in Whitehead, but since Whitehead himself never used “panentheism” I’m still wondering about if any pantheistic threads or streams or rivers exist in the Whiteheadian geography. Even Whitehead describes his work as leaning toward pantheism. I’m still looking at how positions are framed and what streams exist.

When reading Whitehead, Daoist thinking comes to mind, which is something I don’t think he would argue with. I see this clearly, and I have Bracken’s book on my to read list. Thank you for that thread.

Your understanding is sharp and has clear distinctions, and you seem to be quite comfortable with seeing Whitehead as a panentheist and a clear map of the territory. I’m more muddled and love to bump around because I seem to have a habit of stumbling into some beautiful holes and detours as I wander, but now is not the time to describe those many holes and detours along my way. I’m always appreciative of those I meet along the path who have more experience and understanding of the territory where I am wandering in the moment.

Again, I find what you are reflecting on and sharing illuminating. I greatly appreciate your respectful tone, generosity, and clarity regarding your own path.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Rolla Lewis.

Thanks, Kent. I am with you there.

To riff a bit on my point, via science we are learning much about the communication and nurturing that occurs in tree communities (forests) that can teach us to empathize with other entities/unities that are exemplifications of the world with us, as many indigenous people do. Such a stance helps liberate us from anthropocentrism, which as Skolimowski (1995) points out in The Participatory Mind, is impossible to get away from because we will always see the world with human eyes, etc. Still, by learning from the trees and seeing them as “people,” we can empathize with them to the degree that they teach us to attend to their world rather than merely having us exploit them for our human world and human desires. I will always exemplify the world as a human. Does that exemplification include empathy for other different people and for other entities/unities, like trees and rocks? For me, it is a deeply ethical issue.

That said, my daughter wrote “Best Dad” on a rock when she was nine years old that is still on my desk for over 25 years. I have a lot of love and respect for that rock, but that love is tied to he message my daughter wrote on it. At the same time, I do have and know other rocks entities/unities that I greatly appreciate.

Dr. Davis, What a treasure trove. Thanks for sharing the Introduction. Is there some way to get copies of specific chapters, like Chap. 6, “A Universe of Subjects: Process Cosmology and Deep Ecology,” Wm. Andrew Schwartz? I was mentored by my philosophy professor, George Sessions, who introduced me to the work of Arne Naess, etc.

Thank you, Ben and Kent for your comments and exploration.

Charles, Again, this is illuminating and stretching me into new ways of seeing and thinking. Thank you.

Thomas, Nice reflection on the nature of reflection papers.

Elizabeth, Great to have you in this course.

Thomas, glad to see you in this course. I look forward to your comments and reflections.

Thanks, Charles. I’ve got a spot where I’ll save the sources you share.

I won’t weigh in on this, but will say thank you for the dialogue.

As usual, thank you Charles. This is illuminating.

I’m wondering if you would be willing to share citations for Wilcox and other authors you mention in passing. I’d love if you would be willing to put a “References” thread. I feel pulled (lured) to read Wilcox and look deeper into the folks you have named. In the last course with Dr. McDaniel, you shared Nebo’s Whitehead’s Metaphysics of Extension and Solidarity, which is now on my “to read pile” on my desk.

I’m still new to Whitehead, wrestling with his technical language, and dealing with how he challenges my hyphenated religious naturalist and comfortably pantheist position. Your comments help deepen and challenge my thinking.

With appreciation.