The Concept of Nature Tarner Lectures Cambridge Philosophy Classics Series

When The Concept of Nature by Alfred North Whitehead was first published in 1920 it was declared to be one of the most important works on the relation between philosophy and science for many years, and several generations later it continues to deserve careful attention. Whitehead explores the fundamental problems of substance, space and time, and offers a criticism of Einstein's method of interpreting results while developing his own well-known theory of the four-dimensional 'space-time manifold'. With a specially commissioned new preface written by Michael Hampe, this book is presented in a fresh series livery for the twenty-first century for a new generation of readers.

Preface to this edition Michael Hampe; Preface; 1. Nature and thought; 2. Theories of the bifurcation of nature; 3. Time; 4. The method of extensive abstraction; 5. Space and motion; 6. Congruence; 7. Objects; 8. Summary; 9. The ultimate physical concepts; Notes; Index.

Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) was a prominent logician, mathematician and philosopher in the early twentieth century and helped pioneer the 'process philosophy' approach to metaphysics. He was Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University until his retirement in 1937.