The Metaphysical Foundation of Buddhism and Modern Science
The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science: Nagarjuna and Alfred North Whitehead
The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science: Nagarjuna and Alfred North Whitehead
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Alfred North Whitehead: Adventures <strong>of</strong> Ideas, <strong>The</strong> Free Press, New<br />
York 1933<br />
Chapter XV<br />
1<br />
Philosophic Method<br />
Section I. In this final chapter <strong>of</strong> Part III my aim is a discussion <strong>of</strong> some<br />
methods which can usefully be employed in the pursuit <strong>of</strong> speculative<br />
philosophy. In illustration, <strong>and</strong> as a subsidiary aim, I shall refer to some<br />
doctrines <strong>of</strong> my own, [Process <strong>and</strong> Reality <strong>and</strong> <strong>Science</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Modern</strong><br />
World], <strong>and</strong> to some comments upon them. In this chapter the transient<br />
aspect <strong>of</strong> nature will be mainly emphasized.<br />
So far as concerns methodology, the general issue <strong>of</strong> the discussion will<br />
be that theory dictates method, <strong>and</strong> that any particular method is only<br />
applicable to theories <strong>of</strong> one correlate species. An analogous conclusion<br />
holds for the technical terms. This close relation <strong>of</strong> theory to method<br />
partly arises from the fact that the relevance <strong>of</strong> evidence depends on<br />
the theory which is dominating the discussion. This fact is the reason<br />
why dominant theories are also termed 'working hypotheses'.<br />
An example is afforded when we interrogate experience for direct<br />
evidence <strong>of</strong> the interconnectedness <strong>of</strong> things. If we hold with Hume, that<br />
1