| | In 1884 Whitehead was elected to become a member of the Cambridge ''Conversazione'' Society, known also as ''“Apostles”''. The society organized meetings where discussions were held ''inter alia'' on various philosophical and world-view questions. According to one meeting record from 1885, when the main topic was [[Herbert Spencer#Evolution|Spencer’s version of evolutionary theory]] and [[The Second law of Thermodynamics]], Whitehead was shown to have considered, at that time, that the opinion that the matter and energy within our visible [[universe]] was homogeneous was incorrect. In an other meeting held the same year, he, as the only one from nine present “Apostles”, declared his faith in God, and two years later he positively answered the question whether God is the sufficient explanation of the universe. In 1892 he significantly helped [[Bertrand Russell]], later known as [[Militant atheism|militant atheist]], to become the member of the same society. | | In 1884 Whitehead was elected to become a member of the Cambridge ''Conversazione'' Society, known also as ''“Apostles”''. The society organized meetings where discussions were held ''inter alia'' on various philosophical and world-view questions. According to one meeting record from 1885, when the main topic was [[Herbert Spencer#Evolution|Spencer’s version of evolutionary theory]] and [[The Second law of Thermodynamics]], Whitehead was shown to have considered, at that time, that the opinion that the matter and energy within our visible [[universe]] was homogeneous was incorrect. In an other meeting held the same year, he, as the only one from nine present “Apostles”, declared his faith in God, and two years later he positively answered the question whether God is the sufficient explanation of the universe. In 1892 he significantly helped [[Bertrand Russell]], later known as [[Militant atheism|militant atheist]], to become the member of the same society. |
| − | Coincidentally after his wedding with devout catholic Evelyn W. Wade, Whitehead entered a period of his life when he was collecting many theological and historical writings. Nevertheless, in the second half of the eighteen nineties he cleared the shelves of his library an openly declared himself a non-believer. This agnostic period, marked with zeal for serving the progress of society with secular characteristics, lasted for 20 years and Whitehead later stated that his misperception of progress in science was the main reason for his abandoning the faith in God. The bizarre was that he felt that the new theories and situation in field of physics disqualify the absolute validity of Newtonian principles which he regarded as fundamentally supporting his theistic views. | + | Coincidentally after his wedding with devout catholic Evelyn W. Wade, Whitehead entered a period of his life when he was collecting many theological and historical writings. Nevertheless, in the second half of the eighteen-nineties he cleared the shelves of his library an openly declared himself a non-believer. This agnostic period, marked with zeal for serving the progress of society with secular characteristics, lasted for 20 years, and Whitehead later stated that his misperceived suppositions with regard to the possibility of progress in science was the main reason for his abandoning his faith in God. The bizarre thing was that he felt that the new theories and situation in field of physics disqualify the absolute validity of Newtonian principles which he regarded as fundamentally supporting his theistic views. |
| | Thus, after departing the faith in God, he started to support the Liberal Party and occasionally also the [[Labor Party]]. The next turning-point in his way of thinking was, however, taking place when [[World War I]] broke up and lists of dead included also his university colleagues, pupils, and last but not least, his own youngest 19-year son Eric, who, serving the British air forces, was shot down on the 13 March 1918 from the French sky. V. Lowe, based on later discussions with Whitehead’s other two war-surviving children, maintains that this tragedy in family had the significant impact on Whitehead’s return on path of faith in God.<ref name="Andrle"/> | | Thus, after departing the faith in God, he started to support the Liberal Party and occasionally also the [[Labor Party]]. The next turning-point in his way of thinking was, however, taking place when [[World War I]] broke up and lists of dead included also his university colleagues, pupils, and last but not least, his own youngest 19-year son Eric, who, serving the British air forces, was shot down on the 13 March 1918 from the French sky. V. Lowe, based on later discussions with Whitehead’s other two war-surviving children, maintains that this tragedy in family had the significant impact on Whitehead’s return on path of faith in God.<ref name="Andrle"/> |