Thanks! I'm not sure I invoked it well enough for people that don't read these things, though: that's what I get for dashing off a blog post. I'm still learning how to properly communicate the things I've been doing for the past few years with people, and I've had mixed success.
> the trick here is to be careful that we not confuse process philosophy (Whitehead, Bergson, Hartshorne)
So: I think that part of our difference is that I'm coming from process philosophy from the 'other direction' if you will: Deleuze and de Landa, who come later than Whitehead/Bergson. I still have yet to actually read those two, so there might be a bit of that going on.
> the trick here is to be careful that we not confuse process philosophy (Whitehead, Bergson, Hartshorne) for pure nominalism, or the pure separation of identity/name/essence from its object.
Right. I certainly don't want to confuse the two, and maybe I have a bit here.
> It's not that process philosophers reject essences out of hand, but that they attempt to find more descriptive language that accounts for the constant motion and change of substances.
See above about Deleuze vs. Whitehead. Regardless, point well taken.
> All this to say, I wonder if the notion of a 'role' is truly descriptive here
I am not perfectly happy with 'role' to be honest, but was trying to find a good analogy for those who haven't read my influences. Also, probably because (process vs essences) as (DCI vs OOP) is weighing heavy on my brain at the moment. Not that I like DCI...
> "_why" in this scheme becomes almost a pure abstraction devoid of the context of having been invented and inhabited by Subject.
I think this is a good critique, and I think that's where I was getting at with my bit at the end about "I don't think anyone should literally take up the mask." I may be making this too ideal; obviously, I prefer to stay material. Idealism is just too easy though!
> It'll be fun to see how/if Subject plays this out.
Agreed.
Anyway, thanks for this: I'm gonna give this some thought for when I write out a longer, more rigorous iteration. Feel free to email me if you ever want to talk about this intersection; it's pretty much what I do these days.