Whiteheadian Metaphysics, General Relativity, and String Theory

String theory is often depicted as the best chance for natural science to find a Theory of Everything. Whiteheadians may object that only a philosophical cosmology such as Whitehead presents in PR can "frame a coherent, logical, necessary system of general ideas in terms of which every element...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bracken, Joseph A. 1930-2024 (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Illinois Press 2014
In: Process studies
Year: 2014, Volume: 43, Issue: 2, Pages: 129-143
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Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
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Summary:String theory is often depicted as the best chance for natural science to find a Theory of Everything. Whiteheadians may object that only a philosophical cosmology such as Whitehead presents in PR can "frame a coherent, logical, necessary system of general ideas in terms of which every element of our experience can be interpreted" (PR 3). But then they have to show that Whitehead’s scheme and string theory fit together nicely, with each helping to resolve residual problem areas in the other. The present article conjectures that the tiny vibrating strings postulated by string theory and the superjects of individual actual entities might correspond to the "final, real things of which the world is made up" (PR 18). Likewise, the extra spatial dimensions required by the mathematics of string theory might be more intelligible in terms of the interaction of different levels of subsocieties within a Whiteheadian structured society.
ISSN:2154-3682
Contains:Enthalten in: Process studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/44798069