Importance

Lecture I of Section I in Alfred North Whitehead’s book Modes of Thought

“In this whole set of lectures my aim is to examine some of those general characterizations of our experience which are presupposed in the directed activities of mankind” (1)

Notes:

“All systematic thought must start from presuppositions”

System is important, and necessary in order to examine and utilize our thoughts “which throng into our experience” (2).

• But systems are inherently finite, and it is this finitude which we must avoid if we are to be good philosophers. “Philosophy can exclude nothing” (2)
  • Therefore we are after an assemblage, not a system per se. (but an assemblage is never ending). Big tasks to handle when pursuing this line of thought.

Whitehead’s definition of Importance directly relates to his definition of matter of fact, and is its ‘antithesis’. Importance relies on an abstraction from ‘matter of fact,’ it is a process of deciding what is ‘important’ from what is ‘actual’(?)

• A useful example from Garrett: ‘depression is being caught in the middle of importance and matter of fact’

Importance functions off “presuppositions”, or the concept/idea/event that exists prior from the main concept/idea/event. Ink must presuppose the pen.

Importance is the basis for morality, logic, religion, and art. Humans must define what is ‘important’ in order to create systems of difference.

A nice quote:

“panic of error is the death of progress” (16)