Chromatikon V - Yearbook of Philosophy in Process

Four years ago I started joining the regular meetings of the Chromatiques
whiteheadiennes at the Sorbonne. As I was soon to discover, the Chromatiques
whiteheadiennes is not just another learned circle of academic philosophers,
only different from other circles because its members happen to be interested
in A. N. Whitehead. Rather, it is a circle that represents, like the chromatic
circle indeed, an impressively broad spectrum of hues --hues of
interpretation and application of Whitehead's work and of process thought in
general, produced by a large variety of scholars, young and old, academic and
non-academic, involved in diverging disciplines such as philosophy and
mathematics, physics and geography, psychology and sociology, politics and
religion, etc., and writing, presenting and discussing in French or English (or
in a cheerful mix of the two) their most recent investigations, conceptual or
otherwise.
With each meeting, I felt more at home among the circle's many non-
conformist and open-minded participants, and gradually, thanks to Michel
Weber, my participation increased: soon I started to join and benefit from the
many discussions following the lectures; then I began to deliver lectures
myself, and was able to share some of the aspects of Whitehead's work that
are at the center of my own research; and finally, I became co-editor of the
fifth Chromatikon Yearbook, the volume I have the honor of introducing to
you, but which is, of course, primarily the result of the efforts of its many
authors, whom I would like to thank for their contributions.
Browsing through the content of the Chromatikon V, the reader will
immediately be able to confirm my impression that its chief editor, Michel
Weber, has once more succeeded in bringing together, in a year's span of
time, a large variety of authors and papers, dealing with a broad and
diverging range of topics, but united by the common engagement in process
thought inspired by Whitehead or similar thinkers. It is true that I would be
surprised to find a single reader who can fully identify him/herself with all the
contributions in this volume, for I cannot do so myself. However, my hopes
are high, that all readers of this volume will be able to share my personal
experience with the Chromatiques whiteheadiennes, which is that the most
beautiful visions flower on the field where all promising ideas are given equal
opportunities. As we all know, it is easy to critique emerging ideas, but after
all, it is among emerging ideas that the visions are born which will shape the
future of thought and experience.
With this wisdom in the back of his or her mind, I invite the reader to start
exploring the many research papers, critical studies and reviews of this
volume in order to discover its highs and lows, to feel the adventure of ideas it
embodies, and to retain the many flashes of vision and beauty it contains.