 The Function of Reason by Alfred North Whitehead Edited and Adapted for Oral Performance by Albert A. Anderson Published by AgriPublications, Millis, Massachusetts, www.agripublications.com Copyright 2014, All Rights Reserved Editors' Preface Whitehead presented these three lectures at Princeton University in 1929. Although 85 years have passed, his central thesis and his analysis remain remarkably current. The scientific materialism that Whitehead opposed with such vigor continues to dominate in academic circles, and even now those who question that worldview are often accused of being anti-scientific. This is especially true in discussions of the nature of the human mind and its relation to the body, particularly the brain. It is hard to find a contemporary thinker with a better perspective on the nature and role of natural science than Whitehead, who, with Bertrand Russell published the Principia Mathematica in 1910, who taught logic and mathematics at Trinity College of Cambridge University, who taught philosophy of science at University College London with special emphasis on the conceptual impact of contemporary physics, and who was professor of philosophy at Harvard University beginning in 1924. Whitehead's cosmology is far from anti-scientific, but he does explain why scientific method and technological practice alone are not able to provide a comprehensive understanding of the full range of human thought and experience. The function of reason was out of print for many years, so it has not contributed to this vital discussion as it should. For that reason, we are publishing it not only as a text, but also as an audio performance. The content of these lectures is unabridged, although we have made a few changes in the language to facilitate oral presentation and to conform to contemporary usage, especially by avoiding the kind of sexist language that prevailed in the early decades of the 20th century. Whitehead's introduction and summary. History discloses two main tendencies in the course of events. One tendency is exemplified in the slow decay of physical nature. With stealthy inevitability, there is a degradation of energy. The sources of activity sink downward and downward. Their very matter wastes. The other tendency is exemplified by the yearly renewal of nature in the spring and by the upward course of biological evolution. In these lectures, I consider reason in its relation to those contrasted aspects of history. Reason is the self-discipline of the originative element in history. Apart from the operations of reason, this element is anarchic. Lecture 1 The topic I am considering, the function of reason, is one of the oldest topics for philosophical consideration. What is the function of reason amid the welter of our mental experiences, amid our intuitions, our emotions, our purposes, and our decisions of emphasis? In order to answer such questions, we have to consider the nature of reason, its essence. Of course, this is a hackneyed theme. Its discussion stretches back to the very beginnings of philosophic thought. But it is the business of philosophers to discuss such fundamental topics and to set them on the stage illuminated by our modern ways of thinking. Sample complete. Ready to continue?