The Metaphysical Foundation of Buddhism and Modern Science

Appendix 3:
Alfred North Whitehead: Adventures of Ideas,
The Free Press, New York 1933
Chapter IX
Science and Philosophy
Section I. In one sense, Science and Philosophy are merely different
aspects of one great enterprise of the human mind. We will dwell upon
their cooperation in the task of raising humanity above the general level
of animal life. At this low, animal level, flashes of aesthetic insight, of
technological attainment, of sociological organization, of affectionate
feeling, display themselves. Nightingales, beavers, ants, the kindly
nurture of the young, all witness to the existence of this level of life in
the animal world. Of course all these modes of functioning are carried to
an immeasurably higher level among mankind. In human beings these
various modes of functioning exhibit more variety of adaptation to
special circumstances, they are more complex, and they are more
interwoven with each other. But without question, among animals they are
there, plainly demonstrated to our observation.
Among living things on this planet, so far as direct evidence reaches,
Science and Philosophy belong to men alone. They are both concerned
with the understanding of individual facts as illustrations of general