Sia, Santiago. "Creative Synthesis: Causuality in Hartshorne's Philosophy." (Conference Paper- International Conference on Creativity and Process: East-West Dialogue 2007).

Abstract

Creative synthesis, an interpretation of causality developed by Charles Hartshorne in his philosphical works, attempts to provide a way out of the determinism-indeterminism debate in philosophical discussion.  At the same time, it is grounded in contemporary physics which regards effects as statistical averages rather than fully predictable results of the action of causes and is thus an example of a fruitful interaction between philosophy and science.
This paper will firstly seek to contextualise this interpretation of causality within the process metaphysics of Charles Hartshorne, establish its basis and develop its implications.  Secondly, it will show how the resulting philosophy of action, grounded in the principle of dipolarity, can provide a fresh insight into the cause-and-effect relationship and how it can address the issues of activity/receptivity, novelty/giveness, and freedom/restriction not only in the human sphere but also in the whole of reality.