The Principle of Relativity
Alfred North Whitehead’s The Principle of Relativity offers an alternative to Einstein’s theory by grounding relativity in a process ontology, where events—dynamic, interconnected spatiotemporal occurrences—replace static matter as reality’s basis. He critiques Einstein’s geometric approach, proposing instead a method of extensive abstraction to derive spacetime from the eventful continuum, a relational network of perceptual objects (directly experienced entities) and scientific objects (inferred patterns like gravitational fields). Whitehead’s theory of gravitation employs tensor equations to unify inertial and gravitational effects without curving spacetime, emphasizing causal efficacy—the embedded relationality of events—over geometric metaphors. Key is his rejection of bifurcation of nature, arguing that perceived qualities (e.g., colors) and physical quantities (e.g., wavelengths) co-constitute coherent occasions through prehensive unification. Though overshadowed by Einstein’s empirical success, Whitehead’s work influenced relational physics (e.g., Barbour’s timeless physics), shaped process philosophy’s critique of scientific materialism, and remains a touchstone for interdisciplinary dialogues on spacetime’s ontological structure and the limits of geometric reductionism.
