REALITY: A PROCESS
[On Process
Philosophy]
By: Atty. Mark Gil J. Ramolete, MA, LLM
Reality is referred to as a fact of
existence. This fact of existence from the perspective of process philosophy is
nonetheless processual in nature. Nature likewise is characterized to be processual.
Every forms of life and every facet of human life and existence are processual
in nature.
To drive the point further, consider
the pictures below. The first picture depicts the “seed germination process[1]”
while the second illustration portrays the different “stages in human
development[2]”. The third picture, on the other hand, shows
the “periods of human life span[3]”
while the fourth picture makes an illustration on “human development[4]”
which involves growth and decline that could either be characterized to be
positive or negative.
From the examples and illustrations made above, what
do we mean when we speak of a process? By the word process, we mean to a series
of events, occasions, steps or actions taken or formed through the progression
of time in order to attain a certain goal or end. Human
life is caught in a cycle of birth-growth-decay (and rebirth if one believes in
reincarnation). Put it this way as to the process of reincarnation: no one lives
the earth and no one dies, that is, one way or another, all are but transformed.
To echo what was mentioned earlier, nature is a
process. This is the most fundamental principle that one has to keep in mind
whenever one is engaged in the study of process philosophy or process
metaphysics. With this fundamental principle at hand, nature being a process is
characterized by temporality, historicity, change, passage and novelty. These
are among the most fundamental characterization to be reckoned with in our understanding
of the world.
Previously, we mentioned that process refers to
series of events, occasions, steps or actions taken or formed through the
progression of time in order to attain a certain goal or end. Time in the
context of this discussion is neither independent nor separated of its
existential content (spatio or space). Temporality and its changes are
“perpetually perishing” coupled by the “perpetual emergence” in the
“concrescence, coalescence or consolidation of new real.” This point referred
to has its origin in the Heraclitian view that “all things flow.” Such is a
rejection of the Parmenidean or Atomistic view that nature consists in the
changeable interrelations among stable, unchangeable, fixed units of existence.
Process philosophy gives emphasis on change as well
as development in all of its aspects over fixity and persistence. Consider the
table[5]
below which shows a point of comparison between substance philosophy and
process philosophy.
|
Substance Philosophy
|
Process Philosophy
|
|
Discrete
individuality
|
Interactive
relatedness
|
|
Separateness
|
Wholeness
(totality)
|
|
Condition
(fixity of nature)
|
Activity
(self-development)
|
|
Uniformity
of nature
|
Innovation/novelty
|
|
Unity
of being (individualized specificity)
|
Unity
of law (functional typology)
|
|
Descriptive
fixity
|
Productive
energy, drive, etc.
|
|
Classificatory
stability
|
Fluidity
and evanescence
|
|
Passivity
(being acted upon)
|
Activity
(agency)
|
Furthermore, looking at the thematic nature of the
operations at hand is one of the most significant ways of classifying process
and to further understanding on the said topic. Classifying process based on
the following kinds enumerated here though do not exhaust the subject, these
“kinds of processes”[6]
could one way or another further our understanding of the subject matter being
discussed:
A. Physical
causality (in relation to physical changes)
B. Purposive/teleological
(in relation to achieving deliberate objectives)
C. Cognitive/epistemic
(in relation to intellectual problem solving__e.g. programming ourselves for
solving a certain sort of problem)
D. Communicative
(in relation to transmitting information)
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd
illustrations depicted previously would point primarily to physical causality.
The three illustrations primarily point to physical causality inasmuch as these
illustrations portrayed physical changes through time. The 4rth illustration,
on the other hand, points primarily to communicative process. This is in
consideration to the reason as to why such was made which transmit information
to the reader on the nature of human development similar to the process of
writing this paper in order to transmit information to the reader on the
subject matter of process.
To conclude this discussion, to speak of reality as
a process being a fact of existence would point to a series of events,
occasions, steps or actions taken or formed through the progression of time in
order to attain a certain goal or end.
[2] From http://www.slideshare.net/aweful/human-behaviour-ppt,
8th of May 2015.
[3] From http://www.slideshare.net/aweful/human-behaviour-ppt,
8th of May 2015.
[5][5] Nicholas Rescher, Process Metaphysics (An Introduction to
Process Philosophy), USA: State University of New York Press, 1996, p. 35.
[hereinafter shall be referred to as process metaphysics]
[6] Process Metaphysics, p. 42.
