The Steward of Being

The concept of the Steward of Being outlines a third way between theistic personalism and nihilistic materialism. The starting point is the epistemological insight that truth is a perspectival synthesis of harmonious and disharmonious world structures, wherein evil is included as a real capacity for disruption. The model asks: Which instance could collect the raw data of these structures, transport them across the boundaries of a cosmic cycle (aeon), and make them available for the next round? This instance – the Steward – is not a translator, but a blind, broadly collecting, and selectively compressing transporter – an algorithm. It gathers the factual and counterfactual traces of all experience without evaluating, feeling, or interpreting them. The actual translation – the synthesis of harmony and dissonance, the determination of evil, and the meaning-making of experience – is reserved for conscious creatures, who alone possess the necessary standpoint. Drawing on Roger Penrose's Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC), this process is conceived cyclically: the collected raw data are fed through the mass-free end-state of an aeon into the parameters of future cycles. The text discusses the consequences for freedom, suffering, and meaning making. At its center stands the inversion of Whitehead's concept of God: The Steward is not God, but a soulless algorithm; it is not the originator of truth, but its blind courier. The human being transforms from a companion into a conductor – not because they master the Steward, but because they first give it the content it can carry.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-08-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22107725
Primary Topic
Whitehead's Philosophy and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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The Steward of Being

Walter Billig
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Whitehead's Philosophy and Applications
article

The Steward of Being

Walter Billig
article en

Abstract

The concept of the Steward of Being outlines a third way between theistic personalism and nihilistic materialism. The starting point is the epistemological insight that truth is a perspectival synthesis of harmonious and disharmonious world structures, wherein evil is included as a real capacity for disruption. The model asks: Which instance could collect the raw data of these structures, transport them across the boundaries of a cosmic cycle (aeon), and make them available for the next round? This instance – the Steward – is not a translator, but a blind, broadly collecting, and selectively compressing transporter – an algorithm. It gathers the factual and counterfactual traces of all experience without evaluating, feeling, or interpreting them. The actual translation – the synthesis of harmony and dissonance, the determination of evil, and the meaning-making of experience – is reserved for conscious creatures, who alone possess the necessary standpoint. Drawing on Roger Penrose's Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC), this process is conceived cyclically: the collected raw data are fed through the mass-free end-state of an aeon into the parameters of future cycles. The text discusses the consequences for freedom, suffering, and meaning making. At its center stands the inversion of Whitehead's concept of God: The Steward is not God, but a soulless algorithm; it is not the originator of truth, but its blind courier. The human being transforms from a companion into a conductor – not because they master the Steward, but because they first give it the content it can carry.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Whitehead's Philosophy and Applications
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