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To Avoid misunderstanding, I should note at once that my point of view is here not that of the mere logic of ideas and doctrines, but that of the concrete logic of the events of history.From the first point of view, that of the mere logic of ideas and doctrines, it is evident that there are many possible positions other than the "pure" positions which I shall examine. One might ask theoretically and in the abstract, what value these various positions have. That is not what I plan to do. In a word, my point of view is that of the philosophy of culture, and not that of metaphysics.

Whitehead's autobiography.--Descriptive and critical essays on the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead: Lowe, Victor. The development of Whitehead's philosophy. Quine, W.V. Whitehead and the rise of modern logic. Northrop, F.S.C. Whitehead's philosophy of science. McGilvary, E.B. Space-time, simple location, and prehension. Needham, Joseph. A biologist's view of Whitehead's philosophy. Hughes, Percy. Is Whitehead's psychology adequate? Urban, W.M. Whitehead's philosophy of language and its relation to his metaphysics. Ritchie, A.D. Whitehead's defence of speculative reason. Murphy, W.E. Whitehead and the method of speculative philosophy. Hocking, W.E. Whitehead on mind and nature. Sellars, R.W. Philosophy of organism and physical realism. Goheen, John. Whitehead's theory of value. Morris, Bertram. The art-processs and the aesthetic fact in Whitehead's philosophy. Bixler, J.S. Whitehead's philosophy of religion. Hartshorne, Charles. Whitehead's idea of God. Schilpp, P.A. Whitehead's moral philosophy. Holmes, H.W. Whitehead's views on education. Dewey, John. The philosophy of Whitehead.--The philosopher's summary.--Bibliography of the writings of Alfred North Whitehead (with selected reviews): (to November 1941) compiledby Victor Lowe and R.C. Baldwin

As indicated by the attribute "historical," this essay is not concerned with evaluations on metaphysical grounds of life and the universe. Statements by philosophers to the effect that this is the best of all possible worlds, or that "life is a business the returns for which do not cover the costs by any means," may indeed become objects of historical inquiry. After all, what has not become "historicized" these last hundred years! But investigations of that kind are not likely to yield any great results. Metaphysics, like mathematics, is all but timeless.A good deal more closely related to historical and political categories are certain fundamental ideas regarding the nature of man. It has been observed that "the pessimistic view of human nature is, and has always been, the deepest sense of a conservative argument." The inverse is true of a philosophy of progress, which is almost invariably based on an intrinsically optimistic evaluation of human nature. We shall have to touch occasionally upon that interdependence of metaphysical and politico-historical thought in the course of this inquiry. Our chief interest, however, centres on different problems.