Abstract Process philosophy replaces substance ontology with event-based metaphysics, yet it struggles to account for robust personal continuity and sustained character development. This article addresses this meso-level gap by introducing Hâl—an ethically constituted ontological state—as a category bridging Whitehead's momentary actual occasions and enduring societies. (The Arabic term hal, originally associated with the Sufi, refers to a transient spiritual state, here reconceptualized as a stable, ethically constituted ontological structure.) The present article relates Hâl to Aristotelian hexis (or habit) and the virtue ethics tradition and compares it not only to certain Whiteheadian concepts but also to certain Buddhist themes and to certain elements of contemporary neurophenomenology. Further, the implications of Hâl for postmortem persistence will be explored.
Abstract This article details the high hopes and great disappointments regarding the writings of Teilhard de Chardin, both during his lifetime and after his death. The article introduces an anglophone audience to the work of Mercè Prats, whose scholarship on Teilhard from 2019 until 2025 has deepened our understanding of Teilhard's published works and letters, many of which have not yet been translated from the French.
Abstract Integrative bioethics refers to human, animal, and plant life as well as to nonliving nature, e.g., mountains, glaciers, and rivers. This makes it different from classical medical-ethical positions. As a modern, bioethical approach, it is about seeking criteria for successful living, revealing responsibilities and meaningful regulations, and facing those problems and challenges resulting from the manifold processes of life in innovative and orientation-providing ways, in particular against the background of the new kinds of biotechnologies, thus enabling self-realization in human existence. It is about successful living and providing answers to the challenges associated with the process of living. In this article I would like to consider Alfred North Whitehead in light of the implications of his thought for bioethical issues. As is well known, Whitehead is not currently part of the common “canon” of integrative bioethics.
Abstract This article offers a process-theological reassessment of the haftarot cycle in reference to Tishah B'av. A haftarah (plural: haftarot) is a prophetic biblical reading chanted after the weekly Torah portion in Jewish synagogues on Shabbat and holy days. Tishah B'av is a fast day commemorating historical tragedies, especially the destruction of the first and second temples in Jerusalem. The article relies on the thought of Whitehead and Hartshorne in the effort to reconceptualize divine-human interaction in terms of relational power, persuasive rather than coercive divine agency, and a nondeterministic understanding of history.
Abstract Alfred North Whitehead replaces traditional substance metaphysics with a process-oriented ontology and reconceives meaning as a “prehensive” relation that is not reducible to language. This article argues that his critique of substance metaphysics, his account of the bipolar structure of prehension—specifically the mutual penetration of the conceptual and physical poles—and his insistence that meaning exceeds linguistic articulation together yield a unified ontological-normative framework for contemporary animal philosophy. On this basis, the article proposes a process-ethical model for animals, which posits that animals are to be regarded as process subjects endowed with intrinsic value and that their capacity for meaning-making is recognized as multimodal, operating at sensory and affective levels. Accordingly, the model situates animals within an interspecies political community constituted by networks of prehensive relations. This article further demonstrates the institutional viability of this model through an analysis of empirical cases such as New Zealand's Animal Welfare Act and the European Union's Directive on the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes. Accordingly, Whitehead's process ontology provides a philosophically robust and practically viable response to the problems of linguocentrism and anthropocentrism in animal ethics.
