For a long time now I have wanted to write an essay about Eric Voegelin’s relationship with process philosophy. What is process philosophy/theology/thought? It’s the name for a retrojective philosophical lineage, often seen to include the Stoics, Spinoza, F.W.J. Schelling, William James, Henry Bergson, A.N. Whitehead and the “schizo” materialism of Gilles Deleuze. Process thought emphasises verbs over nouns – relations, dynamics, becomings, modes, events and flows rather than static “things”. In many ways it is the philosophical mode of thinking for our age par excellence. Perhaps it is even a little too appropriate. In our high-speed world not very much seems to last long and everything seems to be part of complex ecological, communicational and economic systems far from equilibrium. At very least I would like to see what one might be able to do with Voegelin’s ideas to talk about such things.

Early in Anamnesis, Voegelin…