Note 59 — Chapter XV · CONSEQUENCES OF THE NEW SPACE AND TIME MEASUREMENTS—SIMULTANEITY

The majority of Dr. Whitehead’s views are unfortunately couched in such loose and obscure terms that it is usually possible to place a variety of conflicting interpretations upon them. As he himself candidly admits in his book, “The Principles of Natural Knowledge”: “The whole of Part II, i.e., Chapters V to VII, suffers from a vagueness of expression due to the fact that the implications of my ideas had not shaped themselves with sufficient emphasis in my mind.”

Obviously, if the author of a book is not quite clear as to what he means, there is always some danger in settling the matter for him. Accordingly, we should have omitted any reference to Dr. Whitehead’s writings had it not been that some of his criticisms (though totally erroneous in our opinion) are often of considerable interest, leading as they do to a novel vision of things. At any rate, in any further reference to Whitehead, we shall view his criticisms in the light of type-objections, regardless of whether or not, as interpreted by us, they depict his own personal views.