| The motiff of this study lies in a seeming similarity between Whitehead and Hegel, externally according to some interpretations emphasizing the similarity and internally from what Whitehead himself says about the nearness of his philosophy to that of Hegel. Its argumentation involves a comparative study of Whitehead and Hegel in terms of transcendence and immanence, in which terms they both attempt to understand the whole of reality. The duality of transcendence and immanence is an important issue in the theological argumentations in the sense that the universal aspect of the particular theological doctrines resides in this metaphysical concept. The purpose of this study is, however at first hand, to uncover a proper metaphysical framework for the issue of transcendence and immanence. The argumentation is constructed around an examination of three different metaphysical aspects--the ontological, epistemological and methodological--of the issue of transcendence and immanence in Whitehead and Hegel.;Whitehead's speculative philosophy initiates in his ontological principle which states that the occasion of each actual entity is self-caused. Epistemologically, 'feeling' is the locus where the subjective aspect of every element of actual occasion occurs. Epistemology is subordinate to ontology. His actual interpretation of the actual world, however, shows that some elements in addition to and beyond actual entities are needed to explain their unity and identity. These are postulated to be eternal objects and God. The reality of these elements is derived from the principle of extensive abstraction which is sustained by Whitehead's method of mathematical generalization. Methodologically, then, the whole of reality is actually explained by two different principles, which indicates ironically that the whole of reality is sustained by a duality of transcendence and immanence.;Hegel's speculative philosophy initiates in his concept of the movement of whole reality which is argued in terms of transcendence and immanence. This duality is presupposed in an ontological sense. The world of Idea is the being of the Absolute in itself, and Nature is the externalization of this Idea. Spirit is the return to the Idea, and is cultivated through conscious development from sense-certainty to Absolute Knowledge. Epistemology is incorporated with ontology to realize whole reality. This whole movement of reality is motivated by the principle of negativity, which means that this principle is the same in both the ontological and epistemological aspects. In other words Hegel's methodology is consistent in his understanding of whole reality. The issue of transcendence and immanence is the main concept around which whole reality is constructed in Hegel, where both are essentially related to each other without losing their duality.;In examining a comparison of these two metaphysical constructions, the theses of this dissertation emerge as follows: (1) The issue of transcendence and immanence is essential to the construction of whole reality in both Whitehead and Hegel. (2) In Whitehead it results ironically in an unresolved duality in spite of his ontological framework. (3) In Hegel the issue is presupposed from the beginning and then is resolved by his consistent methodology. (4) Because of this difference the application of Hegel's dialectic to Whitehead's unresolved duality requires a totally different framework in Whitehead. (5) Hegel's structure results in a more consistent framework in regard to the issue of transcendence and immanence, even though it remains a traditional framework in the sense that it presupposes a clear distinction between transcendence and immanence, the transition between them representing one of the most difficult problems in metaphysics. |
