On February 14, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the publication of the British mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead's work An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge (1861-1947), an academic seminar was held at BNBU. The event was jointly hosted by the Office of General Education of BNBU and the Honors College of Beijing Institute of Technology, Zhuhai. The seminar brought together 19 scholars from mainland China, Taiwan, the United States, and Italy to advance the study of Whitehead's philosophy.

At the seminar, experts and scholars from 18 universities expressed their opinions and discussed the topics they were researching. First, Professor Yu Yixian from the Department of Philosophy at Tunghai University, Taiwan, gave a presentation on Whitehead’s Natural Philosophy and Its Significance in His Era. Professor Yu discussed Whitehead’s life and philosophical development, analyzing how Whitehead transitioned from a mathematician and logician to a world-renowned philosopher. She also engaged in a discussion with the faculty and students present regarding the essence of Whitehead’s philosophy and its significance in the context of his era. Professor Yu emphasized that Whitehead was one of the great Western philosophers of the 20th century who, in the face of the anti-traditional philosophical movement of the time, maintained that philosophy has both necessity and value.

Professor Yu Yixian from the Philosophy Department of Donghai University in Taiwan gave a speech

Professor Yang Fubin, Executive Vice Dean of the Honors College at Beijing Institute of Technology, Zhuhai, and one of the initiators of this conference, gave a presentation titled The Causes and Significance of Whitehead's Turn to Natural Philosophy. He analyzed the three main periods in the development of Whitehead's thought and theory: the period of mathematics and logic, the period of natural philosophy or philosophy of science, and the period of metaphysics and cosmology. These periods correspond to three key locations in Whitehead's life and work: Cambridge (1885-1910), London (1911-1924), and Harvard (1925-1945). Professor Yang explored the reasons behind Whitehead's shift from studying mathematics to philosophy and provided an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge. Professor Yang argued that Whitehead’s turn to natural philosophy was not only the result of the internal logic of Whitehead's own intellectual development but also aligned with the internal logic of Western philosophy's development. This shift was significant not only for Whitehead’s intellectual growth but also for the modern turn in Western philosophy as a whole.

Professor Yang Fubin, Executive Vice Dean of the Honors College of Beijing Institute of Technology Zhuhai College, delivered a speech

Professor Guo Haipeng, Director of the General Education Office at BNBU, researched the relationship between Whitehead's thought and the Chinese Taiji Bagua (Eight Trigrams) diagram. Professor Guo explained the connection by mapping Whitehead's ultimate and existential categories in his classification system onto the Taiji Bagua diagram, developed through the I Ching (Book of Changes), to demonstrate the relationship between Whitehead’s process philosophy and Chinese thought. Professor Guo stated that the Taiji Bagua diagram is an organic, unified model that provides a framework for better understanding the ultimate and existential categories, especially their interrelations. This model more clearly illustrates the coherence of Whitehead’s speculative philosophy within the processes and realities of existence.

Professor Guo Haipeng, Director of the General Education Office of Beishigang Baptist University, studied the relationship between Whitehead's thought and the Eight Diagrams of Chinese Tai Chi

In addition, Professor Yang Li from the School of Education Science at Harbin Normal University, Professor Wang Kun, Vice Dean of the Marxism College at Zhejiang Normal University, Dr. Zhang Xianguang, Associate Professor at the College of Media at Grand Valley State University in the United States, Dr. Andrew Schwartz, Executive Director of the American Process Studies Center and Assistant Professor at Willamette University, Antonio Catalano, a PhD student at the History of Ideas Research Center at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Italy, Dr. Liu Yiyu, Associate Professor at the Institute for Science, Technology, and Society Research at South China Normal University, Dr. Chen Weigong from Beijing Second Foreign Language University, and doctoral student Gao Yuan from Beijing Normal University also presented their insights on Whitehead's philosophy.

Scholars who delivered speeches at the conference

Other attendees at the seminar included Professor Han Qiuhong from the Marxism College at Northeast Normal University, Professor Wen Hengfu, Dean of the School of Education Science at Harbin Normal University, Professor Xie Bangxiu from Hubei University of Police, Professor Zhang Nini from the Marxism College at Beijing Foreign Studies University, Professor Hu Yuegao from China Agricultural University, Professor Yu Qizhi from South China Normal University, and Dr. Wang Kun, Associate Professor from the Department of Philosophy at Sun Yat-sen University (Zhuhai).

Group photo of attending scholars

After 8 hours of presentations and discussions, all the researchers gained a deeper understanding of Whitehead's philosophy and the theories in An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge. In his closing remarks, Professor Guo Haipeng, Director of the Whole-Person Education Office at BNBU, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to discuss and follow the intellectual trajectory of Whitehead's philosophy on the 100th anniversary of An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge. He further expressed his hope that such grand events would take place annually and that the seminar's discussions would be published in a volume of papers to solidify and disseminate the scholars' research results.

Text/Image: Liao Qiuxian

Editor: Yu Yuanyung

(Source: BNBU MPRO)