There are two dominant streams for talking about reality in the history of metaphysical thought – substance and process. These two streams are noticeable in virtually all traditions but the former seems to have gained more attention at the expense of the latter which offers a more robust and insightful framework for codifying reality. The metaphysical framework of substance has been elevated as absolute and universal in humanity’s comprehension of the self and the world. That metaphysical framework fails in providing a springboard on topics such as value and conscious nature of all ontological entities. As a result, topics such as the cellular basis of consciousness or biopsychism in plant neurobiology, panpsychism and its impact over the inter-relationship among all entities for environmental stability have not received penetrating and convincing analysis from the substance-based perspective. This is why an alternative framework in process metaphysics as broadly construed in all religious and philosophic traditions – African, Oriental, Anglo-American, and Continental become pertinent.
In its most commonly shared formulation, process philosophy, regardless of tradition, lays emphasis on vital force, flux, biopsychism, dynamism, relationality and interconnection among entities such that nothing stands in isolation (see Mesle 2008; Ivakhkiv 2018). Among process philosophers, there is a shared acknowledgement that reality is ‘becoming’ and an interconnected web such that no event stands in isolation. Process philosophers eschew the mainstream and dominant outlook in traditional metaphysics that changelessness implies perfection (see Rescher 1996; Mesle 2008). Extant scholarship offers a more robust explanation for topics like ecology (Ivakhiv 2018; Maffie 2015; McLeod 2023), consciousness (Griffin 2007; Raud 2021; Zu 2025), agency (Valmisa 2025), relationality (Chimakonam & Ogbonnaya 2021; Maffie 2015; McLeod 2023), mystical experiences (Dambrowski 2023), and Being (Ofuasia 2024). These are hot topics that signal the importance of such metaphysics for contemporary scholarship. In spite of this common ground, process scholars in the afore-mentioned philosophical traditions have never engaged one another critically.
This conference will therefore be the first to birth this long overdue intellectual exchange as it offers an improved metaphysical framework for value and consciousness in all ontological entities to address various concerns that are facing humanity: economy, political, and environmental. Although there are hesitant answers to some of these global challenges facing humanity, the influence of substance-based analysis has yet to offer penetrative answers, in addition to the almost complete lack of interaction among scholars of process to explore their common ground for a common voice in the way that substance thought has done over the centuries.
There are no registration fees but all participants and observers must register before they can get the links to the talks/panels. This will be communicated in due course. For further information, please relate with Dr. Chukwueloka Uduagwu via email: cuduagwu@noun.edu.ng. More information will be made available to participants.
Confirmed Key Speakers
Jonathan O. Chimakonam – University of Pretoria, South Africa & President, Conversational Society of Philosophy, University of Calabar, Nigeria
Mercedes Valmisa Oviedo – Gettysburg College, USA
Daniel A. Dombrowski – Seattle University, USA & Editor-in-chief, Process Studies
Rein Raud – Tallinn University, Estonia
Jessica Xiaomin Zu – University of Southern California, USA & SACP Program Chair, American Academy of Religion
James Maffie – University of Maryland, USA
Alexus McLeod – Indiana University, USA & Editor-in-Chief, The Philosophical Forum
Members of the Conference LoC
Emmanuel Ofuasia – LoC Convener/Chair (emmanuel.ofuasia@up.ac.za)
Chukwueloka S. Uduagwu – Media & Publicities (cuduagwu@noun.edu.ng)
Abhishek Tripathi– Liaison officer (abhishektripathi190@gmail.com)
