May 29, 2025 | Author: Yang Fubin | Source: Chinese Social Sciences Net

In the vast galaxy of academia, the publication of every classic work shines like a brilliant star, illuminating new realms of human understanding. Recently, the Collected Works of Whitehead (20 volumes), edited by Yang Fubin and Guo Haipeng, was published by the Central Compilation & Translation Press. The translators of this collection are all researchers at the Center for Whitehead Studies, possessing profound academic backgrounds and philosophical expertise, which ensures the rigor and authority of the translations. Moreover, the project received financial support from the Institute for Advanced Study at Beijing Normal Hong Kong Baptist University, providing strong backing for the successful completion of the publication.

Alfred North Whitehead, a towering academic figure whose work spans mathematics, philosophy of science, metaphysics, and education, enjoys long-standing prestige in the academic circles of Europe and America. The ripple effects of his thought are extensive and profound. His co-authorship with Russell of Principia Mathematica is recognized as a milestone in twentieth-century mathematical logic. This monumental work stands as a beacon in the development of mathematical and symbolic logic, guiding generations of scholars forward. His early work A Treatise on Universal Algebra also shone brightly; with it, Whitehead became a Fellow of the Royal Society in his thirties, showcasing extraordinary academic talent. He then continued to cultivate the fields of philosophy and the humanities, and for his outstanding achievements, was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy, covering the humanities and social sciences. In the UK, it is extremely rare for a scholar to receive both honors in a single lifetime, testifying to the depth of Whitehead’s academic attainments.

In natural philosophy and the philosophy of science, Whitehead also made remarkable achievements. His three works—An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge, The Concept of Nature, and The Principle of Relativity—stand as three sharp intellectual blades, cutting through traditional thought and opening new paths for the study of the philosophy of science in the English-speaking academic world. These accomplishments earned him an invitation at the age of 63 to join Harvard University from the President himself, just as he was about to retire honorably from Imperial College London. Whitehead spent thirteen years lecturing passionately on philosophy at Harvard, until he chose his “second retirement” at the age of 76. Yet his passion for scholarship remained strong; he continued to write diligently for more than a decade, publishing Essays in Science and Philosophy in the final year of his life, capping off his illustrious academic career.

However, in Western academia, Whitehead’s works—despite their fame—have often faced the awkward dilemma of being praised but not popular. On the one hand, from Whitehead’s time to the present, phenomenology and analytic philosophy have dominated the Western philosophical scene like two towering mountains. Due to its unique speculative and integrative nature, Whitehead’s philosophy struggled to find space to flourish between these dominant traditions, often facing marginalization. In the broader context of the “age of analysis” and the “age of phenomenology,” his philosophy of organism never became mainstream—even though it, in fact, helped initiate a significant shift in Western philosophy from substance to process. On the other hand, the very innovativeness of Whitehead’s works has acted as a double-edged sword. He deliberately created and used a series of unique terms and categories, which posed considerable barriers for scholars accustomed to the traditional substance-oriented mode of thinking, making it difficult for them to enter Whitehead’s carefully constructed world of “process–relation–organism.” Puzzling questions arise for traditional thinkers: how can “being” become “becoming”? Does “being” still exist in a world of pure process? If the world is nothing but process, can there still be anything unchanging? Whitehead’s answer: the world contains “eternal objects,” which are potential, immutable, and eternal. Only when they are ingressed into “actual entities” or “actual occasions” do they become part of reality. Moreover, Whitehead completely overturned the traditional belief that things or substances exist prior to their interactions and changes. In his view, it is the becoming of actual entities that determines their being. Each actual entity is a dynamic, active subject; the relations between them are intersubjective, not the traditional subject-object dichotomy. In his process philosophy, the classical Western distinction between subject and object is organically unified. As for whether relations are internal or external, or whether essence determines relation or vice versa, Whitehead provided logically coherent and experientially robust answers. Traditional Western philosophical concepts like “substance,” “matter,” and “mind” all, in his view, fall prey to the “fallacy of misplaced concreteness.” These challenges make it extremely difficult for scholars rooted in traditional substance-based thinking to grasp Whitehead’s process philosophy.

Encouragingly, Chinese philosophical traditions resonate closely with Whitehead’s process philosophy. From the Book of Changes (I Ching) onward, Chinese thought has demonstrated a profound insight into change: “What is called affairs is the communication of change.” The “Yi” (change) in I Ching includes five interrelated meanings: transformation, constancy, simplicity, transaction, and harmony—all conceptually parallel to Whitehead’s notion of “process.” The dynamics, unchanging structures, comprehensible regularities, interpenetration, and harmonious transformation embedded in “process” echo the philosophies in I Ching. Daoist philosophy, with its emphasis on the transformations of the Dao in accordance with natural law, also shares deep commonality with Whitehead’s process thought. The Huangdi Neijingexpresses and applies process-oriented thinking more than 200 times, demonstrating traditional Chinese thought’s emphasis on process. For this reason, Whitehead once acknowledged that his process philosophy aligns more closely with East Asian philosophy than with Western European traditions. From the standpoint of cultural tradition and modes of thought, Chinese scholars find it relatively easy to embrace Whitehead’s philosophy of organism. During his lectures in the United States, the late philosopher Fang Dongmei introduced Whitehead’s process philosophy to his audience, reportedly enlightening many on its core principles.

In contemporary China, a group of Marxist philosophers has acutely recognized the value of Whitehead’s process philosophy. They clearly see that Marx and Engels were also great process thinkers. Marx inherited and developed Hegel’s dialectic, which is itself rich in process-oriented thinking. Their enthusiastic reception of Darwin’s theory of evolution—and its adoption as a scientific basis for their own philosophy—mirrors Whitehead’s reliance on evolutionism as a foundation for science. Whitehead even declared himself a thoroughgoing evolutionist, asserting that not only life but the entire universe is evolving; nature is an endless “creative advance.” Increasing attention from Chinese scholars has elevated Whitehead’s influence, and the Chinese publishing world has responded enthusiastically. The Central Compilation & Translation Press has deeply recognized the contemporary and practical significance of Whitehead’s thought—particularly its relevance to China’s modernization, ecological civilization, and the building of a shared future for humanity—and has resolutely committed to publishing The Complete Works of Whitehead. This decision is undoubtedly a timely and joyous development for Whitehead studies.

The editors, in a spirit of academic reverence, have meticulously planned this project to systematically compile and translate all of Whitehead’s publicly published papers and works, organizing them by chronology or theme. Each volume includes a “Translator’s Preface,” which provides detailed background on the work, outlines its core ideas and theoretical contributions, and discusses its limitations, helping readers engage more deeply with Whitehead’s philosophy. Moreover, the collection features a foreword by John B. Cobb Jr., a third-generation inheritor of Whitehead’s process philosophy; a preface by Academician Tang Tao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for Whitehead’s mathematical works; and a “General Preface” written by chief editor Yang Fubin. These valuable prefaces serve as keys of wisdom to help readers unlock the treasures of Whitehead’s thought.

We believe that the publication of The Complete Works of Whitehead (20 volumes) will act as a strong and timely wind from the East, greatly advancing academic engagement with Whitehead’s ideas. We hope that this comprehensive set will allow this treasure of human thought to shine more brightly in the new era, contributing unique wisdom and strength to global academic development.

(The author is a Professor at the Center for Whitehead Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Beijing Normal Hong Kong Baptist University, and Professor at Boya College, Guangzhou Southern University.)

Source of reprint: Chinese Social Sciences Net | Editor: Saiyin