「感受形上學」或者「感受宇宙論」是一與唯物實體論和唯物機械論對立的哲學思想。不同於後二者將自然視為由特定時空中、不相連屬的、無意識、無意圖的物質質點所構成的大機械，戚受形上學主張宇宙一切存在均具備「感受」的能力；自然是由能感受、有主體性的、彼此相關的生命單元所構成的整體。自十七世紀科學興起之後，科學的宇宙觀造成自然與精神二分的困難。無疑地，感受形上學是為了因應此一困難應運而生。在現代西方哲學裡，感受形上學向為歐陸理性論和唯心論的特徵，經常受到實在論和經驗論的批判。到了十九世紀晚期，新實在論者懷德海提出新的感受形上學，主張有機整體的宇宙觀，企圖避免唯心論和二元論所造成的問題。他特別提出「機體」具有心物二極的理論，認為由機體構成的宇宙是一有目的、有意圖的創化宇宙，並非只受到盲目機械因果法則的支配。懷德海的宇宙觀與中國古哲的宇宙觀極為接近，尤其近乎《易經》的宇宙觀。《易》為六經之首，是中國古代最具哲學意味的寶典。其中含藏了旁通統貫、整體相關的宇宙觀，創化生生、交感和諧的自然觀，參贊化育、止於至善的人生觀，以及涵容賅遍、以人為本的價值觀；總其目的在提供統攝宇宙人生的形上原理。究其理念內容，無不包含前述感受形上學的基本要旨。本文囿於篇幅，僅就《易經》與懷德海俱以宇宙為一「感通系統」之說作一介紹，以期對中西形上學之會通交流有所貢獻。

"Feeling metaphysics" or "feeling cosmology" is the kind of theory that suggests every existence, either mental or physical, inheres in itself a capacity of "feeling" and thereby can interact with one another as part of an organic whole. It gives a different view of the universe from that of the materialistic and causal mechanistic ones which see the universe as a configuration of elementary particles whose motions and relations are purposeless and governed by some definite, causal, mechanical laws. In modern philosophy, feeling metaphysics has long been a characteristic of European rationalism and idealism, and constantly challenged by empiricism and realism as it frequently undermines the foundation of the existence of the external world by making the objective world depend on the subjective or universal mind. In the late nineteenth century, some neorealists and pragmatists gave a new version of feeling metaphysics; they still held an organic view on the universe, but tried to avoid the difficulty caused by idealism. Among them, Alfred North Whitehead has proposed a philosophy of organism founded on the concept of "organism" designated to take the place of "matter" in substantial metaphysics. "Organism" is of a dipolar nature; it has both mental and physical poles and is capable of resolving the long standing problem of body-mind dualism in Western philosophy. This makes Whitehead's philosophy of organism one of the most significant metaphysics in the contemporary world. According to Whitehead, the universe composed of organism is a purposeful, creative, living universe, and it is not solely dominated by the blind force of mechanical, causal laws. Whitehead's cosmological outlook is very close to that of the authors of the Book of Changes （Yi Jing） of ancient China who also saw the universe as an organic whole with its parts extensively interrelated. The Book of Changes, one of the Six Classics, though originally a handbook of divination, is replete with metaphysical notions, such as change, extensive connectedness, creativity, principle, essence, goodness, etc. From the standpoint of comparative philosophy, it will be of great interest to us to understand how the authors of the Book of Changes and Whitehead share the similar views of the universe and whether there is a feeling metaphysics in their philosophies.