The Harvard Lectures of Alfred North Whitehead, 1925 - 1927: The General Metaphysical Problems of Science

by Brian G. Henning (Editor), Joseph Petek (Editor), George Lucas (Editor)

Overview

This second volume in the critical edition reproduces more than 170 lectures delivered by Alfred North Whitehead at Harvard during his second and third years.
For the first time, readers will be able to see the development of Whitehead’s philosophy during the crucial period between the publication of Science and the Modern World and his delivery of the Gifford lectures that would become Process and Reality, as he tests his theories in a classroom setting.
These student notes provide the long-missing window into critical developments in Whitehead’s thinking during this time. They challenge longstanding speculations about when exactly Whitehead developed some of his most famous metaphysical concepts, as well as how those concepts are to be properly interpreted against the wider backdrop of his life and thought.
Also included is a transcript of the only known lecture Whitehead delivered on the topic of ethics, two mid-year exams given to his students, and nearly 2,000 footnotes that provide additional context for the lectures and alternative student accounts of key passages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781399552325
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	02/28/2026
Series:	The Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Complete Works of Alfred North Whitehead
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Brian G. Henning is Professor of Philosophy and of Environmental Studies and Sciences at Gonzaga Universityand Executive Director of the Whitehead Research Project. Dr. Henning holds a M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in philosophy from Fordham University. He is author or editor of fifteen books and more than thirty-five articles and chapters. His 2005 book, The Ethics of Creativity (University of Pittsburgh Press), won the 2007 Findlay Book Prize from the Metaphysical Society of America for the best work of metaphysics published between 2001 and 2006. He is the Founder and General Editor of The Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Complete Works of Alfred North Whitehead.

Joseph Petek is the Director of Research and Publication of the Whitehead Research Project of Gonzaga Universityand Executive Editor of The Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Complete Works of Alfred North Whitehead. He has co-edited three books on Whitehead: Rethinking Whitehead’s Symbolism (2017), Whitehead at Harvard, 1924–1925 (2020), and The Harvard Lectures of Alfred North Whitehead, 1925–1927: General Metaphysical Problems of Science (2021). His latest book is Unearthing the Unknown Whitehead (2022), which examines the significance of Whitehead's Harvard lectures and other previously unknown archival materials.

George Lucas is Distinguished Chair of Ethics and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at The United States Naval Academy. He is General Editor of The Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Complete Works of Alfred North Whitehead.

Table of Contents

General Introduction

Editorial Principles

Chronology for Alfred North Whitehead

Published Works of Alfred North Whitehead

Volume Introduction

Philosophy 3b: Philosophy of Science

Radcliffe Lectures, Fall 1925

Harvard Lectures, Fall 1925

Fall 1925 Mid-Year Exam

Harvard Lectures, Spring 1926

Harvard Lectures, Fall 1926

Fall 1926 Mid-Year Exam

Harvard Lectures, Spring 1927

Philosophy 20h: Seminary in Metaphysics, Fall 1926Philosophy 20i: Seminary in Logic, Spring 1927

Social Ethics 20a: Fundamentals Underlying the Social Sciences

Philosophy A: History of Philosophy

Appendices

Diary Entry of George Conger on Whitehead

Samples of Original Notes

Primary Source Bibliography

Bibliography

Index.