ABSTRACT
One of the virtues which Whitehead claims for his philosophy of organism is that it provides a conceptual framework for quantum theory. The theory which the author has in mind is the old quantum theory, consisting of the hypotheses of Planck and of Einstein that electromagnetic energy is emitted and absorbed in quanta, together with Bohr's model of the atom in which discontinuous transitions were supposed to occur between discrete electronic orbits. The philosophy of organism was presented in a preliminary form in the Lowell Lectures of 1925 and in its most systematic form in the Gifford Lectures. In Science and the Modern World, Whitehead criticizes classical physics for supposing that there exist material entities without any intrinsic mental characteristics, and for supposing that these entities are simply located. The foregoing fragment of Whitehead's philosophy not only contains implicitly most of his views on physics, but also contains his explanation of the existence of the subject-matter for special sciences.
