P AG E 3 0

P R O C E S S P E R S P E C TI VE S

S U M M E R /F AL L 2 0 1 5

Interconnections
From Symbol to Sign The 201 5 Meeting of the Whitehead Psychology Nexus
Fontarches, March 27 - 30th., 201 5
By Michel Weber

he 2015 WPN workshop has probed new possible

synergies between Whiteheads process architectonics
and current research in semiotics, lato sensu. Thanks to the
hospitality of Jason and Carine Brown, the setting was perfect
for the adventurous exploration of new ideas. On the other
hand, the adequate set was provided by the expertise of the
participants while the eidetic atmosphere was thoroughly
processual: open yet systematic, speculative and respectful
of commensical facts, non dogmatic but resolutely imaginative.
Needless to say that the names of C. S. Peirce and W. James
were once again among us. What happens when language
does not go on holiday?

Michel Weber (The contemporary relevance of

Whitehead) introduced the stakes.
Terry Deacon (The thermodynamics of sentience:
From vegetative to subjective self ) sought to account
for the self-generating, self-sustaining, self-limiting,
adaptive dynamics that constitutes an emergent
biological self with the help of a twofold tool: the
correlation between metabolic thermodynamics and the
semiotics of self-organization.
Jason Brown (Mind & Brain: contributions from
microgenetic theory) showed that the study of symptoms
associated with focal brain lesions reveals a microtemporal
transition i.e., a microgenesis that elaborates the
mind/brain state. The process is epochal and modular,
with overlapping replacement of mind/brain states.
Jesper Hoffmeyer (Semiotic Individuation: Ernst
Cassirers Challenge) argued that semiotic individuation is
a historical process, and that this explains why systems
biology has not been capable of bridging the mechanicistvitalist gap in biology. The biosemiotic approach is urgent
to understand human individuation, which is a doubletracked process consisting in an incessant negotiation
between presentation and representation.
Spyridon Koutroufinis (Uexkll and Whitehead)
provided a synthetic and analytic reading of Uexklls
Theoretische Biologie (1920) from the perspective of its
expected Whiteheadian consequences.
John Deely (Substance, Process, and Relation as the
Constituents of Synechism) sketched the history of

semiosis in order to specify the concept of relation and

the validity of the notion of substance. If processes
depend upon interactions, do interactions require
interactants? The unification of all processes in a network
of irreducibly triadic relations offers the answer.
Aljoscha Berve (The evolution of the circle of
understanding) proposed a Whiteheadian interpretation of
the hermeneutic circle theorized by Friedrich Schleiermacher,
Hans-Georg Gadamer and Wolfgang Stegmller.
Paul Stenner (Evolutions and revolutions of meaning
in Proust, Kierkegaard and Whitehead) remarked that
when Whitehead defines process as the immanence of the
infinite in the finite, he was echoing Kierkegaard's
insistence that the self, every instance it exists, is in process
of becoming. Perusing Proust provides memorable
exemplifications of this common concern.
David Bradford (Mystical Process in Ramakrishnas
Nirvikalpa Samadhi) offered a striking account of the
ineffability of first-hand religious experiences. A mystical
experience is sequential, with moments of blissful oneness
alternating with the painful experience of the abyss.
Although neither of these states can be described, when
the mind shifts from one state to the other, it briefly
dwells in the so-called normal state of consciousness and
still enjoys a glimpse of its oscillating journey. These
flashes of insight are, to a certain extent, communicable.
Relying upon Teresa of Avila and Sri Aurobindo,
Maria-Teresa Teixeira (Ineffability and mystical
knowledge) also raised the issue of the ineffability, noetic
quality, transiency and passivity of mystical experience.
James and Bergson were instrumental.
Susan Stuarts argument (Interoception, Time and
Arithmetic) sprang from the fact that Kant relied upon
exteroception to define space and time as a priori forms
of intuition. Given what we now know about the nature
of pre-natal experience, Stuart recarved Kant with
evidences coming from early interoception.
Bryony Pierce (Grounding Reasons for Action)
argued that biological utility alone cannot provide justification
for ones reasons. In order to be compelling, reasons for
action need to be grounded in something we can recognise as
intrinsically meaningful. Affectivity fulfils such a criterion.

S U M M E R /F AL L 2 0 1 5

P R O C E S S P E R S P E C TI VE S

Jeroen van Dijk (Process physics, time and

consciousness: nature as an internally meaningful, habitestablishing process) tackled the idea of the Einsteinian
timeless block universe with the help of Smolin and Cahill.
Maria Pachalskas exploration (Neurological
diseases in famous painters: destabilization of mental
process) of the connection between the visual arts and
neurological diseases took the form of a vindication of
Browns microgenetic theory.
John Pickering (Nature is habit-forming) fostered
Humes process idea of the laws of nature qua natural
habits and showed the relevance of this to the current
ecological crises.

P AG E 3 1

In philosophic discussion,
the merest hint of dogmatic certainty
as to finality of statement
is an exhibition of folly.
Alfred North Whitehead

News from the Democratic Republic of Congo

By David Ongombe

his year, we have put in touch more the 70 students of

the Catholic University and the UPN with the thought
of Whitehead and process Thought. But a novelty which is
happy in this connection: with our interventions and teachings
on Whitehead and Process Thought, and for the first time, the
Catholic University of Congo came to officially agreed to
integrate into its academic program (2015-2016) my conference
On Process Thought and African wisdom. This is an important
event because the same theme was handled in the National
Council of the Congolese bishops IN Congo. Perhaps next
time we will have the opportunity of teaching a whole seminar
of 15 hours on the same subject. We should notice that in the
former years part of teaching concerning process thought and
Whitehead was only considered as chapters of my different
courses. We are continuing to build the Cesur center and its
annual cycle (2014-2015) of four meetings has been done. One
of its meetings was organized to help train, two students in
preparation of doctoral theses on ecology.
I came to be promoted as director of two centers of
researches at the Catholic University:
1. The Center of Researches on African Religion
2. The Center or Researches on the Congolese
Ecclesiastic Archives
Both of the two sections will be unified in one as: The Center
of Researches on African History
The Rector of the UCC and my colleagues professors
believe strongly that by my experiences as visiting scholar at

Claremont, by my contacts in USA and in Europe I will

strongly be helpful to renew researches in that center.
It is necessary to associate with the words of the pope
one or several cultures, philosophies which are integrative.
50 days before the encyclical of the Pope, I came to
publish my article in French: "De la Pensee
Africaindifferntielle et Integrative. Approche Comparee a
Partir des Principes Generaux de la Logique, des Limites
et des Integrales en Mathematique et des Quelques
Presupposes en Physique Quantique."
In this paper I tried to grasp possible links between
process thought, African thought, quantum physics, and
logics and mathematics. I aimed to show how through a
holistic, integrative, differential vision (close to Derrida) the
African traditional vision can address the international,
technological dialogue by respecting harmony with nature
and the singular elements of beings. I believe that of all the
horizons, the time of the thoughts, civilizations and ethical
behaviors point to an integrative and differential vision. In
my mind the time for the integration of economics, politics,
and technological management of the world through an
integrative ecological revolution of all domains of life is
set. And at this time process thinkers and organizations are
beginning to play a strong role.
Editor's note:
Dr. Ongombe is working through several ideas concerning a response to
the Papal paper, Laudato Si'.