Henri Bergson

Henri Bergson (1859-1941) was a French philosopher known for his innovative contributions to metaphysics, memory, consciousness, and the philosophy of time. Born in Paris to a Polish Jewish family, he studied at the École Normale Supérieure and later became a professor at the Collège de France. Bergson's philosophy emphasizes intuition over analytical thought and the importance of immediate experience. He critiqued the mechanistic understanding of the universe, prevalent in the science of his time, arguing that life and consciousness are irreducible to physical or chemical processes. One of Bergson's most influential works is "Time and Free Will" (1889), in which he distinguishes between time as measured by clocks, which he calls 'spatial time', and the real time of lived experience or 'duration' (durée). For Bergson, true duration is qualitative, continuous, and indivisible, rejected by the scientific analysis that breaks it down into quantifiable units. Another significant work, "Matter and Memory" (1896), explores the relationship between the mind and the body, memory, and perception. Bergson argued against the materialistic notion that memory is solely a brain function, suggesting it is instead a dynamic process involving the whole body and its interactions with the environment. Bergson's "Creative Evolution" (1907) further develops his ideas on time, change, and complexity. Opposing Darwinian evolution's purely mechanistic interpretation, he introduced the concept of the élan vital, a vital impetus or life force driving the creative, unpredictable evolution of life. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927 for his rich and stimulating ideas, Bergson's philosophy profoundly influenced subsequent thinkers, artists, and writers. Although his popularity waned mid-20th century, contemporary philosophy and science have seen a renewed interest in his ideas, recognizing their relevance to modern debates on consciousness, perception, and the nature of time.