Samuli Isotalo will present two ways of doing metaphysics in their general outlines, but do so from the perspective of process metaphysics. Thelma Nylund will argue that Johanna Seibt rejects successfully several traditional ontological presuppositions and that understanding entities as the more or less indeterminate, yet concrete individuals of general process theory, provides philosophers with novel tools for ontological inquiry. 

One year before his 1952 ‘hidden variables’ paper David Bohm presented a physical-ontological interpretation of standard (‘Copenhagen’) interpretation of quantum theory in his 1951 646-page textbook.  He proposed that properties of quantum particles such as electrons ought to be seen as ‘opposing potentialities.’  They are ‘potentialities’ in the sense they typically do not exist in a well-defined sense before measurement and ‘opposing’ in the sense that if one measures, say, position accurately, one cannot measure momentum accurately at the same time in the same experimental situation (‘complementarity’).  Bohm’s discussion is philosophically intriguing—for one thing he suggests that we cannot derive the macroscopic world (which we need to actualize the potentialities of quantum particles) from quantum theory.  And yet the behaviour of the macroscopic, classical level can only be understood in terms of a quantum theory of its component molecules.

Among the many well-known philosophical influences on the physics and philosophy of science of David Bohm—ranging from Marxism to Krishnamurti—one important influence has remained almost completely unknown: the German philosopher George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, one of the most important systematic philosophers in the history of Western philosophy and a prominent figure in philosophical idealism. This is indeed an unfortunate historical state of affairs, since Hegel was in fact Bohm’s strongest philosophical influence throughout his mature intellectual life, particularly in his abhorrence of fragmentation and his affection for wholeness, which is prominently reflected in both his physics and his philosophy of science. Moreover, speaking of Bohm as a person, his worldview can also be seen as strongly influenced by specific social propensities and psychological determinants from his early emotional and intellectual development, for which Hegel’s philosophy later served as a rational catalyst. Interestingly, but not unexpectedly, these determinants were strikingly similar to those that led the young Hegel to engage with the concepts of fragmentation and wholeness throughout his philosophical life

In this session we will explore the following questions: Is there one all-encompassing concept of information or are there several different concepts of information? Do different disciplines have different notions of information? Is there a unifying notion of information? Can a unifying concept of information help us solve important disciplinary and interdisciplinary problems?

Alison Liebling is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Cambridge and the Director of the Institute of Criminology’s Prisons Research Centre. She has carried out research on life in prison for over 30 years. Her projects have included suicide and self-harm in prisons, close supervision centres for difficult prisoners, incentives and earned privileges, staff-prisoner relationships, the location and building of trust in high security prisons, the work of prison officers, and conceptualizing and measuring the moral quality of prison life, including comparisons between public and private sector prisons.

Science has helped us to live with less suffering, but has it helped us to understand life or accept death? It cannot do what spiritual traditions do. Ideally, it should remain open to other ways of knowing and this meeting will look at what common ground might exist between them. Speakers from the sciences, arts and the healing traditions will aim to create an open, participatory dialogue on how we might understand the world as a unified whole.

A Conversation between Amy Lemon and Àlex Gómez-Marín. Amy Lemon has been a professional actress for 40 years in New York and Los Angeles. Her pursuit of knowledge into the nature of being a conscious human has been a lifelong study. Her inquiry into Jungian thought, perennial philosophy, consciousness studies broadly, religious studies in college and continuing presently as a seminary student, have been her passions.  Her 45 year spiritual practices and personal phenomenal experiences, have all opened and awakened a ravenous curiosity that has helped to heal her early childhood experience of being sexually, emotional and physically abused by a family member. She spent years working and on the board of directors of a non-profit, The Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse in upstate New York where she raised her two now adult daughters.

Structuring Process in the Undivided Universe: a series of talks and conversations with Basil HileySeptember, 20 – 24, 2024with Basil Hiley, Hamish Todd, Paavo Pylkkänen, Jonathan Allday and Michael WrightLocation: […]

Kimberly Johnson is an author, postpartum care activist, trauma educator, structural bodyworker and mother. She graduated Valedictorian from Northwestern University with a BS in Social Policy (‘97). She studied yoga directly with the three main lineage holders of the Krishnamacharya tradition- Desikachar, BKS Iyengar, and Pattabhi Jois and taught yoga full time for 15 years, while also maintaining a Structural Integration practice. When radically rearranged by childbirth, Kimberly’s life changed shape to attend to the cultural chasm of postpartum care, and as a result she trained in Somatic Experiencing and Sexological Bodywork to be able to help women heal from birth injuries, gynecological surgeries and sexual boundary violations.