ADVENTURES OF IDEAS

I describe the first section in depth because it is among the more accessible pieces of Whiteheads writing. The remainder of the book calls upon his unique metaphysical perspective to some extent, and is thus more of a struggle for the casual reader. It, too, is beautiful and valuable for those who are willing to learn how to read Whitehead, but it is not easy. Buy the book for the first part, then if you like Whiteheads highly idiosyncratic view of reality, train yourself to read the rest of the book.

Personally, although Whitehead has fallen out of favor of academic philosophers for most of this century, I think that his work is more likely to be read 200 years from now than are most other works written this century. Whitehead is definitely thinking of the big picture with a certain serene timelessness. Far more people should be exposed to his 20th century articulation of the eternal search for the True, the Good, and the Beautiful (and the Adventure).

Students of process thought frequently focus on Whiteheads major work, _Process and Reality_, sometimes to the neglect of his other books. But Whiteheads thought was, fittingly, in continual flux; and _Adventures of Ideas_, written after _Process and Reality_, contains new themes which, some would say, provide needed correctives to some of the notions in Whiteheads earlier books. _Adventures of Ideas_ is also considerably more readable than _Process and Reality_. It should not be passed over.