The Theism of Charles Hartshorne

The aim of the thesis is to introduce the American process philosopher Charles Hartshorne and his philosophical theism and to relate his approach and his thoughts to the debate about the relationship of theology and philosophy. After introducing the basics of the career and work of Alfred North Whitehead, the better known representative of process thought, and then the career and achievements of Hartshorne himself, I proceed to make a survey of the main aspects of his neoclassical philosophical concept of the God-world relation. Special attention is paid to one of Hartshorne's specifics - his defense and interpretation of the ontological argument for the existence of God. I then deal with Hartshorne's attempts to engage some classical theistic concepts, namely that of Thomas Aquinas, and of the luminaries of Protestant theology, Paul Tillich and Karl Barth, into a kind of dialogue. Then I introduce briefly "process theology" and some significant examples of applying Hartshorne's ideas in theology, Christology, and moral theory. I survey some polemical reactions to process thought and to Hartshorne by German Protestant theologians and I consider the possibility of a certain kinship between Hartshorne's view of the God-world relation and the theology of nonviolence. In the conclusion I survey the outcomes of..