懷海德(Alfred North Whitehead, 1861-1947)是廿世紀西方一位偉大的形上學家；在面對當代西方哲學反形上學洪流之時，懷海德堅持形上學有其學的必要性與價值，這使他在當代哲學界取得舉足輕重的地位。許多 「後現代哲學家」在批判「現代科學世界」之餘，宣稱哲學的工作便是在對構成世界觀的個種因素進行「解構」。舉凡念、理想、價值、意義、目的、人格、語言、文化等等，都成為他們「解構」的對象。懷海德雖與「後現代哲學家」一致，以批判現代科學世界觀及其預設為哲學發展的起點，但他仍肯定哲學形而上的思辨功能，並且堅信理性與經驗的結合，足以使吾人識事物之間的關係。根據他的機體哲學，一切實有都是具備「自我創生能力的機體」，因之自然便是「創生的建程」，而自然歷程便是宇的真相。懷海德稱他的哲學是「機體實在論」；他與現後代哲學家「反形上學」、「反實在論」以及「反理性論」的立場顯然有別。美國的懷德哲學家為走向「虛無主義」的「後現代主義」是「解構的」、「消的」後現代主義(deconstructive/eliminative postmodernism)，而懷海德哲學則是「建構的」、「積極的」後現代主義(constructive/positive postmodernism)。本文擬分三部分探討懷海德的「後代世界觀」；首先將說明上述與懷海德「後現代世界觀」相關的「後現代科學理論」，其次說明懷海德對現代科學世界觀的批判，最後說明懷海德機體哲學中所顯示的「建構的後現代世界觀」。

A.N. Whitehead was one of the greatest metaphysicians in the twentieth century who has assumed his position by inveighing against the torrents of anti-metaphysics, and by defending the importance and necessity of metaphysics in philosophical pursuits. Similar to many postmodern philosophers, who are discontent with the dominance of science and technology in the modern world, Whitehead has launched a series of criticisms on scientific materialism and its presuppositions as the point of departure of his philosophical pilgrimage. However, unlike most of the postmodern philosophers, when questioning modern perversities, Whitehead did not commit himself to the task of decomposing the elements of which the modern worldview is consisted, such as ideas, reason, values, meaning purposes, self, Whitehead contends that metaphysical speculation is the primal function of philosophy that can be interpreted. He also believes that both rational and empirical factors are indispensable to our cognition that may grasp directly the interrelatedness among things. According to his philosophy of organism, every actual entity is a self-creative organism and nature is a process exclude certain eternal factors from reveling its essences. It may well be argued that Whitehead’s philosophy, once being dubbed as “organic realism,” is drastically different from cost of the contemporary postmodernists, who take an anti-metaphysical, anti-realist, or anti-rationalist stance and are constantly led to the cul-de- sac of nihilism. In the past decades, the Whiteheadian scholarship has been flourished in the United States of America and the contrast between Whitehead’s philosophy, taken as constructive/positive postmodernism, and the contemporary postmodernism, taken as deconstructive/eliminative postmodernism, has been made and examined. The present paper shared with the American Whitecheadians, John Cobb and David Griffin, in their views on the relevance of Whitehead’s philosophy to a constructive postmodern worldview which is also confirmed by some postmodern scientists.