Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead OM FRSwas an English mathematician and philosopher. He is best known as the defining figure of the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which today has found application to a wide variety of disciplines, including ecology, theology, education, physics, biology, economics, and psychology, among other areas...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMathematician
Date of Birth15 February 1861
Alfred North Whitehead quotes about
individual social structure
Each human being is a more complex structure than any social system to which he belongs.
teaching causes
In all education the main cause of failure is staleness.
exercise genius intellectual-curiosity
Inventive genius requires pleasurable mental activity as a condition for its vigorous exercise
learning past errors
Learning preserves the errors of the past as well as its wisdom.
ideas progress fundamentals
Fundamental progress has to do with the reinterpretation of basic ideas.
metaphysics unconscious secure
No science can be more secure than the unconscious metaphysics which tacitly it presupposes.
book pages select
Learning is often spoken of as if we are watching the open pages of all the books which we have ever read, and then, when occasion arises, we select the right page to read aloud to the universe.
learning science being-different
It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious.
important details finals
In a sense, knowledge shrinks as wisdom grows, for details are swallowed up in principles. The details for knowledge which are important, will be picked up ad hoc in each avocation of life, but the habit of the active utilization of well-understood principles is the final possession of WISDOM.
inspirational time educational
We think in generalities, but we live in detail.
ideas mind combination
Above all things we must be aware of what I will call 'inert ideas' - that is to say, ideas that are merely received into the mind without being utilized, or tested, or thrown into fresh combinations.
philosophy wonder products
Philosophy is the product of wonder.
wise intelligent intelligence
Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct form ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended.
christ dogmatism anti-christ
Dogmatism is the anti-Christ of learning.