Some Clarifications on Evolution and Time

Abstract

Maria-Teresa Teixeira examines the concepts of evolution and time as they appear in the Harvard lectures and Whitehead’s The Function of Reason five years later, noting Whitehead’s influences and the ways in which his philosophy shifted. Unsurprisingly, in the Harvard lectures Whitehead’s views on evolution were still developing, and he did not yet associate it with reason as its guiding force. He was eventually led to ‘an original theory of evolution that emphasised time, the dialectical symbiosis between beings and their environment, and the overall importance of the environment.’