The Concept of Nature: The Tarner Lectures Delivered in Trinity College, November 1919

In Short

This book offers a rigorous philosophical foundation for the physical sciences, developed through a series of lectures delivered in 1919. By moving away from the "materialistic" view—which treats nature as bits of matter existing in a pre-defined space and time—it argues that nature is fundamentally a passage of events. The work remains a cornerstone of process philosophy, valued for its attempt to reconcile the immediate, felt reality of our lives with the mathematical requirements of modern physics. It is a dense, foundational text for those seeking to understand the nature of reality.

The Story

The inquiry begins by addressing the fundamental problem of how we communicate and retain thoughts about the natural world. It asserts that "pure demonstration" is impossible, as our descriptions of nature always rely on auxiliary, often irrelevant complexes. We are trapped by language and custom into perceiving nature through a materialistic lens, imagining a world of static bits of matter occupying absolute space and time. The author rejects this, arguing that space and time are not independent containers but abstractions drawn from the relations between events.

The argument proceeds by dismantling the traditional, often faulty, philosophical presuppositions inherited from Greek thought, particularly the rigid definitions established by Aristotle. The author seeks to replace these with a "relational theory." In this framework, the primary unit of nature is the event—a "going-on" that is spatio-temporally bounded. Whether it is a man being run over or the endurance of the Great Pyramid throughout a day, both are events. We do not perceive "matter" in isolation; we perceive events.

From here, the lecture series moves into the construction of time and space. Time is treated as the passage of nature, and the author develops the "method of extensive abstraction" to define geometrical entities like points, lines, and volumes. These are not basic building blocks of nature, but rather limits reached by a process of approximation. A "moment," for instance, is a set of natural properties reached by a route of approximation. By defining these entities through the relations of events, the author avoids the trap of assuming an absolute background.

As the argument unfolds, the discussion turns to the nature of perception and the "ingression" of qualities into the world. When we see a color, it is not merely a subjective trick; it is a systematic correlation between our own bodies and the physical environment. The observer’s position within the event structure is key. This leads to the complex implications of relativity. The author acknowledges that the existence of multiple, discordant time-systems—where what is "now" for one observer is "past" or "future" for another—is a profound paradox that defies our common sense. However, rather than despairing at this breakdown of a unique, universal time, the author treats it as a structural reality of the universe.

The work concludes by reasserting that the laws of motion are not merely arbitrary mathematical preferences designed to satisfy our sentiment for classical physicists like Newton. Instead, they are descriptions of fundamental physical quantities that we know through experience. The ultimate goal of natural philosophy is to exhibit how one set of ingredients in nature requires the presence of others. By grounding scientific concepts in the direct, felt reality of human awareness, the author provides a coherent account of the world that respects both the laboratory and the living room.

How It Unfolds

The problem of description The opening lectures establish that our language often fails to capture the immediacy of experience. The author shows how demonstrative phrases rely on a background of sense-awareness that is easily disrupted.

The shift from matter to events The argument moves to redefine the fundamental components of nature. Instead of viewing the world as static matter, the reader is encouraged to see it as a structure of passing events.

The method of extensive abstraction The author introduces the mathematical technique of defining spatial and temporal entities as limits. This avoids the necessity of assuming an absolute space or time, treating them as abstractions from the relations between events.

The paradox of relativity The lectures confront the reality of multiple, discordant time-systems. The author explains how different observers can have different "presents," challenging the traditional view of a single, universal history.

The correlation of experience The final movement connects these abstract structures back to human perception. It explains how qualities like color "ingress" into nature, creating a systematic reality that science can investigate.

The People

The book is less a narrative of human characters and more an engagement with the ideas of historical figures who shaped our understanding of reality. Aristotle serves as the primary foil; his hardening of concepts is criticized for leading philosophy down a "wrong turn" by creating a faulty analysis of matter and form. The author finds the Pythagoreans and later figures like Galileo, Newton, Euler, and Lagrange to be essential, though he cautions that their work is often misunderstood. He argues that we should not follow them out of a "sentimental regard," but rather because their formulas describe real, observable aspects of nature. Einstein is acknowledged as the source of the new, challenging views on relativity that the author seeks to ground philosophically. Through these thinkers, the author establishes the reader as the ultimate "percipient," whose role is to navigate the divide between immediate sensory awareness and the abstract, intellectual accounts of the universe.

In Its Own Voice

"In fact, pure demonstration is impossible though it is the ideal of thought."

This statement highlights the inherent difficulty the author finds in communicating about specific factors in nature without relying on auxiliary, irrelevant information.

"Nature is known to us in our experience as a complex of passing events."

This serves as the foundational premise of the entire argument, marking the shift away from a materialistic, static view of the universe.

"The philosophy of nature took a wrong turn during its development by Greek thought."

The author uses this observation to critique the historical reliance on Aristotelian definitions that obscured the true relationship between matter and form.

What It's Really About

The central question is how we can intellectually account for a nature that we feel directly through our senses. The author argues that science has become too detached, relying on mathematical formulas that lack a clear foundation in actual experience. The book explores the "relational" nature of space and time, proposing that neither exists independently of the events that compose them. It challenges the reader to accept that the world is a process, a "creative advance," rather than a collection of objects. By doing so, the author attempts to bridge the gap between the scientist’s laboratory and the common-sense world of the observer, showing that both are describing the same underlying structure of events.

Why Read It Today

This book is for the patient reader who enjoys the challenge of deep, foundational philosophy. If you have ever wondered why "now" feels different from "then," or how our scientific models of space and time relate to the room we are sitting in, this work will be deeply rewarding. It does not offer quick answers; rather, it invites you to dismantle your own assumptions about reality and rebuild them alongside the author.

Reading the text feels like being in a room with a brilliant, methodical mind. The prose is precise and calm, though the subject matter is undeniably difficult. You will encounter occasional mathematical notation and references to technical geometry, which underscore the author's insistence on rigor. The tone is warm and conversational, often using simple examples—a man run over on the Chelsea Embankment, or a college building in Regent's Park—to anchor complex ideas in the everyday world. While some of the scientific context reflects the state of physics in 1919, the underlying philosophical questions remain as relevant as ever. If you are prepared for a rigorous, non-hype exploration of the nature of the universe, you will find this work to be a profound, if demanding, companion.