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Whitehead's Use of Imagination in His Conception of God

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2014

Jane Kopas
Jane Kopas*
Affiliation:
University of Scranton
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Abstract

For most readers the conceptual elements of Whitehead's doctrine of God stand out more than the imaginative elements. If we take a more careful look at his understanding of the role of imagination in various realms and at his choice of particular images to illustrate his view of God, however, we can appreciate better the primary concerns that underlie his reformulation. We also find a consistency of purpose in relating images to his philosophical system and a richness that otherwise goes unnoticed. The shortcomings in his use of imagination result from a neglect of certain aspects of experience.

Type
Articles
Information
Horizons , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , Spring 1986 , pp. 7 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © The College Theology Society 1986

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References

1 Whitehead, Alfred North, Process and Reality, corrected edition, edited by Griffin, David Ray and Sherburne, Donald (New York: Free Press, 1978), p. 7.Google Scholar Hereafter this work will be referred to as PR.

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8 Whitehead, Alfred North, Modes of Thought (New York: Free Press, 1968), pp. 49-50, 174.Google Scholar Hereafter this work will be referred to as MT.

9 Whitehead, Alfred North, Adventures of Ideas (New York: Free Press, 1967), pp. 120, 163–64.Google Scholar Hereafter this work will be referred to as AI.

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