Whitehead’s Idea of God: A Metaphysical Principle or the God of Religion?

Year 2025, Volume: 9 Issue: 4, 1634 - 1654, 31.12.2025

Münteha Beki

https://doi.org/10.32711/tiad.1782084

Abstract

This article examines Alfred North Whitehead’s conception of God within the framework of process metaphysics, focusing on the question of whether his God should be regarded as a “metaphysical principle” or as “the God of religion.” Whitehead grounds his system on becoming and process rather than existence and portrays God as a dipolar entity: on the one hand, the primordial nature, the organizer of eternal forms and the principle of limitation ensuring cosmic order; on the other, the consequent nature, a changing, feeling, and actual entity interacting with the world. Such a dipolar conception of God departs from the immutable and absolute God of traditional theism. However, the limitations of God's creative power, the absence of efficient causality, and the controversial nature of the dimensions of transcendence and personality reinforce the interpretation that Whitehead's model represents a cosmic consciousness or functional principle rather than the God of religion. This study aims to evaluate the ontological status of God—whether it is a metaphysical principle or an entity compatible with religious expectations—from the perspective of process metaphysics. In this regard, God's position in process ontology, the dialectic of transcendence-immanence, the problem of personality, and religious significance are examined.

Keywords

Philosophy of Religion , Whitehead , God , Actuality , Transcendence , Personality , Religion

Whitehead’in Tanrı Anlayışı: Metafizik İlke mi Dinin Tanrı’sı mı?

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Alfred North Whitehead’in Tanrı anlayışını süreç metafiziği bağlamında ele almakta ve onun Tanrı’yı “metafizik ilke mi yoksa dinin Tanrı’sı mı?” olarak konumlandırdığı sorusunu tartışmaktadır. Whitehead, varlık kavramı yerine oluş ve süreç kavramı üzerine inşa ettiği sistemde Tanrı’yı dipolar bir varlık olarak tasvir eder: bir yandan ezelî formların düzenleyicisi, kozmik sürecin sınırlayıcı ilkesi ve düzen kaynağıdır; diğer yandan ise değişen, hisseden ve âlemle bağ kuran bir aktüel varlıktır. Dipolar karakterli bir Tanrı anlayışı, geleneksel teizmin mutlak ve değişmez Tanrı anlayışından ayrışır. Ancak, Tanrı’nın yaratıcı kudretinin sınırlılığı, fail neden olmaması, aşkınlık ve kişilik boyutunun tartışmalı oluşu, Whitehead’in modelinin dinin Tanrı’sı olmaktan çok kozmik bir bilinç veya işlevsel bir ilke olduğu yorumunu güçlendirmektedir. Bu çalışma, Tanrı’nın ontolojik statüsünün -metafiziksel ilke mi yoksa dini beklentilerle uyumlu bir varlık mı olduğunun- süreç metafiziği perspektifinden değerlendirilmesini amaçlamaktadır. Bu doğrultuda, Tanrı’nın süreç ontolojisindeki konumu, aşkınlık-içkinlik diyalektiği, kişilik problemi ve dini açıdan önemi irdelenmektedir.

Keywords

Din Felsefesi , Tanrı , Aktüellik , Aşkınlık , Kişilik , Din , Whitehead

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