Philosophy of Nature

Books, Philosophy of Nature

Place, Space, and a New Conception of Nature

In the introductory note to PART IV – PROLEGOMENA TO A NEW CONCEPT OF NATURE of the book The Nature of Physical Existence (1972), the American author, philosopher Ivor Leclerc, remarks on the reason why he developed such an articulated exploration into the conception of nature, i.e., the physical existent (from the Greek term ‘physis’, φύσις), between historical, linguistic, metaphysical…

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Books, Philosophy of Nature

Concepts of Place, Space, and the Nature of Physical Existence

I argue we cannot understand the meaning of the concepts of place and space, and their impact on our understanding of the nature of reality, without considering the meaning of other basic concepts that are co-implicated with and necessary for understanding the very concepts of place and space. That was particularly evident ever since I introduced Julian Barbour’s scientific history…

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Books, Philosophy of Nature

The Place of Processes: Nature and Life

In October 1933 the British philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead delivered two lectures at the University of Chicago, published with the title ‘Nature and Life’, the following year.[1] The content of those two lectures, now in the public domain, is available in the Internet Archive. What follows is the integral transcription of the second lecture. Many of the arguments…

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