The Essays and Articles of Alfred North Whitehead, 1917-1942

by Brian G. Henning (Editor), Joseph Petek (Editor)

Overview

Volume 2 of the Critical Edition’s ‘Essays and Articles’ (EA2) captures published and unpublished essays written by Whitehead from his early London period just after joining the Aristotelian Society in 1915 through to his retirement from Harvard in 1937 until his death in 1947.
This volume includes previously unknown essays as well as papers published in academic journals and monographs. The better-known essays in this period – those that were re-published in collections such as The Aims of Education (1929) and Essays in Science and Philosophy (1947) – suffer from having too many variants, each with their own pagination and variations, making scholarly reference unnecessarily complicated. EA2, for the first time, presents all of Whitehead’s non-monograph works in a single authoritative, chronologically ordered, critically edited, and corrected format, making these volumes the single scholarly standard for researching and referencing these essays.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781399536370
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	10/31/2025
Series:	The Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Complete Works of Alfred North Whitehead
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Brian G. Henning, Founding Executive Editor of the Critical Edition of Whitehead, is Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies at Gonzaga Universityin Spokane, Washington. Dr. Henning’s scholarship focuses on the intersection of metaphysics, aesthetics, and ethics, especially as it relates to the environment. His book, The Ethics of Creativity, won the Findlay Book Prize from the Metaphysical Society of America.

Joseph Petek is the Director of Research and Publication for the Whitehead Research Project and Executive Editor for the Critical Edition of Whitehead at Gonzaga University. He has co-edited three volumes of the Critical Edition and is the author of Unearthing the Unknown Whitehead (2022), which examines the significance of Whitehead’s Harvard lectures and other previously unknown archival materials.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
General introduction
Chronology for Alfred North Whitehead
Published works of Alfred North Whitehead

Introduction to The Essays and Articles of Alfred North Whitehead, 1917–1942

1917. Letter to the Editor of the Mathematical Gazette
1917. Technical Education and Its Relation to Science and Literature
1917. A Polytechnic in War-Time
1917. The Anatomy of Some Scientific Ideas
1918. Graphical Solution for High-Angle Fire
1919. Address on Founder’s Day at Stanley Technical Trade School
1919. Time, Space and Material: Are They, and if so in What Sense, the Ultimate Data of Science?
1919. A Revolution in Science
1920. Discussion upon Fundamental Principles in Education
1920. Einstein’s Theory: An Alternative Suggestion
1921. Science in General Education
1922. The Idealistic Interpretation of Einstein’s Theory
1922. The Philosophical Aspects of the Principle of Relativity
1922. Uniformity and Contingency
1922. The Rhythm of Education
1923. The First Physical Synthesis
1923. Reply to Review of The Principle of Relativity
1923. The Rhythmic Claims of Freedom and Discipline
1923. The Problem of Simultaneity: Is there a Paradox in the Principle of Relativity in Regard to the Relation of Time Measured to Time Lived?
1923. The Place of Classics in Education
1923. Science and Economic Liberty: A Comparison of England and America
1924. First Lecture
1925. The Importance of Friendly Relations Between England and the United States
1925. Remarks at Wellesley College Semi-Centennial Celebration
1926. Principia Mathematica – To the Editor of Mind
1926. The Education of an Englishman
1927. Time
1927. England and the Narrow Seas
1928. Universityies and Their Function
1929. Governor Alfred Smith
1930. An Address Delivered at the Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of Radcliffe College
1932. Symposium in Honor of the Seventieth Birthday of Alfred North Whitehead
1933. The Study of the Past—Its Uses and Its Dangers
1934. Indication, Classes, Numbers, Validation
1936. Memories
1936. Harvard: The Future
1937. Analysis of Meaning
1939. An Appeal to Sanity
1939. Religious Psychology of the Western Peoples
1939. John Dewey and His Influence
1940. The Issue: Freedom
1941. Mathematics and the Good
1941. Immortality
1941. Autobiographical Notes
1942. Statesmanship and Specialized Learning
Undated. Freedom and Order

Textual Notes
Bibliography
Index