The One in the Many: A Contemporary Reconstruction of the God-World Relationship

By Joseph A. Bracken

Michael H. Barnes
"This book is a neo-Whiteheadian gem, an insightful and exciting development of Whitehead's notion of society, placing intersubjectivity at the core of reality. Like Aquinas using Aristotle, Joseph Bracken continues his project of extending and reinterpreting Whitehead's philosophy to address major theological issues. Bracken reworks the notion of causality to produce a 'metaphysics of universal intersubjectivity, ' which he then uses to resolve tough issues about God and the world, the Trinity, body and mind, and subjective immortality. Bracken offers critical but wonderfully clear reflections on the ideas of over twenty other philosophers, including even Derrida and Levinas, showing that many of them are not far from his own position. This is essential reading for philosophical theology today."

Anne Clifford
"One of the world's leading process theologians, Bracken adds to the ongoing conversation about the God-world relationship a carefully crafted metaphysical conception of 'intersubjectivity, ' addressed from both vertical and horizontal perspectives. Readers interested in the relationship of science and theology will find Bracken's proposal for a neo-Whiteheadian common ground that attends to supervenience in the mind-brain relationship thought provoking. Helpful summaries at the end of chapters, an appendix proposing a research program for the future, a carefully crafted glossary, and an extensive bibliography make The One in the Many an impressive work. "

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802848923
• ISBN13: 9780802848925
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Process-Relational Metaphysics Articulated in Trinitarian Terms

In this work, Bracken articulates Whitehead's process-relational metaphysics and/or Hartshorne's dipolar theism in trinitarian terms. He analyzes the works of numerous academicians and weaves their thought into what he calls a "social ontology" and a "metaphysics of intersubjectivity." In particular, he intends to "reconstruct" the Thomistic metaphysics of "being" with the Whiteheadian metaphysics of "becoming." He is also intent on ensuring that some basic Catholic doctrines remain intact - namely, "creation ex nihilo," and "subjective immortality" (Hartshorne rejected subjective immortality, something that I always felt was religiously inadequate). The bottom line is that this a wonderful read. I really enjoyed it! I was amazed with Bracken's ability to distill the thought of so many eminent intellectuals and present the essence of their thinking in a nutshell. He covers a lot of ground here. Along the way, you will encounter Karl Rahner, Jon-Luc Marion, Louis-Marie Chauvet, Catherine LaCugna, Elizabeth Johnson, Jurgen Habermas, Bernard Lonergan, Hans-George Gadamer, Jacque Derrida, Alfred N. Whitehead, Kitaro Nishida, Ervin Laslo, Colin Gunton, Nancey Murphy, Calvin Shrag, David Ray Griffin, Robert Neville, and William Desmond. This is highly recommeded to those who are interested how process-relational metaphysics may be reconciled with trinitarian theology.