Reflection on Bergson's Philosophy

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Henri Bergson was a popular philosopher in the beginning of the twentieth century. He had a considerable effect upon French thought. He also influenced many thinkers of the West. Particularly his irrationalism made a wide appeal.
In recent times, there has been considerable development in Bergson's philosophy. Books and articles on Bergson continue to appear, both in France and the United States and also in Latin America. Recent interpretations of Bergson's philosophy show that his thought is relevant to the philosophy of science and has not received the careful and serious. consideration in this respect that it deserves. The most famous exponents of the above view are Pete A.Y. Gunter and Milic Capek of the U.S.A. Gunter's 'Bergson and the Evolution of Physics and Milic Capek's 'Bergson and Modern Physics' have brought about a revolution in the development of Bergson's. Philosophy. Both these thinkers also hold that anti-intellectual interpretations of Bergson entirely miss the mark. Gunter is of the opinion that Bergson's philosophy contains a dialectical element which resembles Hegel's and Schelling's philosophies. It is this dialectic which unites the Bergsonian opposites: intuition-intellect, philosophy-science, memory-matter, life entropy and the open-the closed society.
Apart from the above developments in Bergson's philosophy there are also areas in the development of Bergson's thought which have so far not been studied in depth: 1. The significant shift in Bergson's thought between Time and Free Will' and 'Matter and Memory'. 2. The shift which occurred between 'Creative Eupolution" and "The two Sources of Morality and Religion." 3. The change which can be noted between his 'Introduction to Metaphysics and the two Introductions' in 'The Creative Mind." Between Time and Free Will' and 'Matter and Momory' Bergson significantly changed his conception of external world, away from an almost Cartesian position. In the Introductions' Bergson reveals himself as almost a positivist, insisting very strongly on scientific knowledge as a base for philosophy and, inversely, insisting that intuition must be capable of verification on the scientific side. (To say this is by no means to make Bergson into a mechanist, a materialist, a behaviorist, etc.). Since Bergson is a seminal thinks his views on "The Two Source" and "Dynamic Religion" are relevant to Post-Modenism and Globalisation. The existentialists like Sartre had overshado wed Bergson's popularity in France.
The present work largely aims at a study of the shift of Bergson's thought that seems to have occurred between his "Creative Evolution' (1907) and "The two Sources of Morality and Religion (1932). To compare the works of two philosophers is one thing and to compare the two works of the same philosopher is another. The first kind of comparative study is quite common because there is scope to enumerate. similarities or dissimilarities between any two philosophers. Whereas in the second case such a study is quite uncommon because almost all philosophers normally do not change their standpoint. But Bergson does change his views in his later works. We notice that there is a significant change between 1907 and 1932 in his thought. Our aim in this work, therefore, is to inquire this change in opinions of Bergson.

**Contents and Sample Pages**