Process Philosophy and Modern Society

“The abandonment of the supernatural,” states Martin, “leaves us with a process view of life and existence, including man. We shift from an absolutist view to a process view… The conclusion was reached that there is nothing but change” (Martin, 2006). Process philosophy represented a profound alteration in thinking that greatly impacted the way we think, live, love, socialize, teach, and work today. Rather than assuming, as most intellectuals did before the 1870s, that reality was immutable and that God had created “an organological mature with theistic characteristics,” process philosophy “abandoned the absolute and absolutized the process instead” (Martin, Lecture Notes 4.1 on Worldviews from the 1870s to the Modern Era, 2013) This shift in thinking has infiltrated almost every area of American society, but there are two facets of modern civilization that have been most significantly affected – the economy and the family.

Modern economic thinking today is imbued with process philosophy at every level. A vital component of process philosophical thinking is evolution, and J. Potts, author and lecturer at the School of Economics in the University of Queensland stated that “evolutionary economics is a new scientific approach to economic analysis and one that has come of age in the past decade or so” (Potts, 2003). But of course the most powerful example of process philosophy’s influence on modern economics is Marx’s Communist Manifesto, the Bible of Communism and the basis for much of America’s Fabian Socialist thinking today (Martin, 2013). As Martin says, “Marxism presupposes that all change is progress” (Martin, 2013). Therefore Marx’s view of the economy is that through the natural forces of evolution, the lower classes will eventually take over the nation’s wealth and overthrow the bourgeoisie middle class. As we have seen, this evolutionary state of economics is a poor disguise for what is, in reality, a planned economy managed by the state. Martin points out that in the area of economics, process philosophy necessitates a “shift from a market-oriented economy toward a planned economy, as the state seeks to become the dominant force in the market, in the economy, and in the whole of society” (Martin, 2006).

A second area of modern life that has been greatly influenced by process philosophy is marriage and the family. According to Patricia G. Miller of the Pittsburgh Post, “America's divorce rate is approximately 50 percent…when you include a subgroup - those folks who have already gone through a divorce - the rate is closer to 60 percent (Miller, 2000). Clearly something has gone wrong with the marriage relationship in our society for the rates to be this high. Martin stated quite correctly that “without the absolute standard of God’s Word, marriage becomes a social contract between two presumably equal individuals” (Martin, 2013). Intimate relationships between imperfect human beings become very difficult indeed when seen through the eyes of a worldview, which holds that all change is good – there are no absolutes, rules, standards, or criteria that must be upheld to maintain such a relationship. Marriage becomes, as Martin put it, an “anarchy or hierarchy” (Martin, 2006). He goes on to declare that if God is out of the picture, “no basis for a presupposed equality remains,” and he questions, “On whose terms is such a presupposed equality established? Yours? Mine? By what standard?” (Martin, 2006). These very questions are the ones that are tearing apart family relationships in America today, because without God, there are simply no answers. John Gucciardi Jr. of the Milwaukee Journal states the situation simply: “The integrity of the family is frayed today” (Gucciardi, 2001).

In conclusion, process philosophy is an errant way of thinking that has tainted the way Americans think, which has in turned warped our ideas about many areas of life. When it comes to economics, Western society has adopted an evolutionary, Godless point of view, boding ill for America’s future as a supposedly democratic, free-market society. When it comes to marriage and the family, process philosophy has taken away the element of “unity with diversity, liberty with responsibility” and wrecked the relationships of many a couple who do not understand how to make a marriage work without some sort of absolute standard (Martin, 2013). Another shift in thinking must be made if we want our society to keep from travelling along the path to totalitarianism and anarchy, and this time, the shift in thinking must be from evolutionary, human-centered philosophy to a presupposed absolute, God-centered one.

Reference:

Gucciardi, John Jr. (2001, Apr 15). MARRIAGE.  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/261315742?accountid=12085

Martin, Glenn R., (2006). Prevailing Worldviews of Western Society Since 1500. Indiana: Triangle Publishing.

Martin, Glenn R. (2013). Lecture on Worldviews from the 1870s to the Modern Era. Personal Collection of Glenn R. Martin, Liberty University, Lynchburg VA.

Miller, P. G. (2000, Jan 20). AMERICA'S DIVORCE RATE IS APPROXIMATELY 50 PERCENT. Pittsburgh Post - Gazette. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/391389122?accountid=12085

Potts, J. (2003). Evolutionary Economics: Foundation of Liberal Economic Philosophy. Policy, 19(1), 58-62.