Creative Evolution (1907) is the text that made Bergson world-famous. It established him as the pre-eminent European philosopher for the next 10 years, influencing the course of intellectual development not only in philosophical circles but also in literature and the arts. For many, it became the central theoretical work for the first half of the Twentieth-Century, and it is arguable that it established the concept of time and its avatars (freedom, difference, creativity, the new), as the highest philosophical values for the next century of French thought. In this monumental work, Bergson takes the special theory of duration developed through Time and Free Will and Matter and Memory in the field of mind, and generalises it into a cosmology of life and matter in the field of evolution, of change in biological life. Tackling the concepts of evolution current at the time, Bergson shows how both mechanistic (Neo-Darwinian) and finalist (Neo-Lamarckian) theories of evolution fail to account for the diverse creativity of nature, especially speciation. In response, Bergson argues for a theory of non-teleological, non-gradualist dissociative speciation immanent within all evolutionary change: the famous concept of the elan vital that, far from being an obscure, spiritual substance underlying organic matter, is simply the kind of creative temporality specific to all living entities. This general theory of biological duration is also applied to a theory of knowledge (or evolutionary epistemology), Bergson showing how even the problems of philosophy (or order and disorder, of being and nothingness), have their origins in a theory of creative life.
This new, critical edition uses the original, authorised translation by Arthur Mitchell, adding a guide to further reading and a new introduction by Bergson scholar Keith Ansell Pearson. It also has a glossary of biological terms, biographical synopses, and other helpful material for readers, proving that Bergson's concept of vital creativity still has pertinence for both the latest developments in contemporary evolutionary theory and philosophy.
'Palgrave Macmillan is to be congratulated for reissuing these classic Bergson texts. This is a timely decision since Bergson was the great thinker of life and it seems, nearly one hundred years later, that we find ourselves once again required to conceive life. Keith Ansell Pearson and John Mullarkey have been at the forefront of the new conception of life, therefore no better editors for these volumes could be selected.' - Professor Leonard Lawlor, Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis, USA
'Long absent from the center of discussion in Western philosophy, Bergson has recently made a reappearance. The Centennial Series of his works undertaken by Palgrave Macmillan thus comes at an opportune time, making it possible for those interested in Bergson's ideas t have access to newly annotated versions of several of his chief writings, freshly introduced and discussed. It is particularly good to see the republication of Mind-Energy, a treasure trove of Bergsonian insights long out of print.' - Professor Pete A.Y. Gunter, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of North Texas, USA
Preface; K.Ansell Pearson
Foreword; K.Ansell Pearson
Introduction
The Evolution of Life: Mechanism and Teleology
The Divergent Directions of the Evolution of Life: Torpor, Intelligence, Instinct
On the Meaning of Life: The Order of Nature and the Form of Intelligence
The Cinematographical Mechanism of Thought and the Mechanistic Illusion: A Glance at the History of Systems; Real Becoming and False Evolution
HENRI BERGSON (1859-1941) is one of the truly great philosophers of the modernist period, and there is currently a major renaissance of interest in his unduly neglected texts and ideas amongst philosophers, literary theorists, and social theorists.
KEITH ANSELL PEARSON is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick, UK. He is the author of Germinal Life: The Difference and Repetition of Deleuze (Routledge, 1999), Philosophy and the Adventure of the Virtual (Routledge, 2001), An Introduction to Nietzsche as Political Thinker (CUP, 1994). He is the co-editor of a forthcoming 'Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche' (Stanford) and editor of the 1890-1930 volume of Acumen's forthcoming 7-volume series in the history of Continental Philosophy.
MICHAEL KOLKMAN and MICHAEL VAUGHAN are Graduate Students at the University of Warwick, UK.
Description
Creative Evolution (1907) is the text that made Bergson world-famous. It established him as the pre-eminent European philosopher for the next 10 years, influencing the course of intellectual development not only in philosophical circles but also in literature and the arts. For many, it became the central theoretical work for the first half of the Twentieth-Century, and it is arguable that it established the concept of time and its avatars (freedom, difference, creativity, the new), as the highest philosophical values for the next century of French thought. In this monumental work, Bergson takes the special theory of duration developed through Time and Free Will and Matter and Memory in the field of mind, and generalises it into a cosmology of life and matter in the field of evolution, of change in biological life. Tackling the concepts of evolution current at the time, Bergson shows how both mechanistic (Neo-Darwinian) and finalist (Neo-Lamarckian) theories of evolution fail to account for the diverse creativity of nature, especially speciation. In response, Bergson argues for a theory of non-teleological, non-gradualist dissociative speciation immanent within all evolutionary change: the famous concept of the elan vital that, far from being an obscure, spiritual substance underlying organic matter, is simply the kind of creative temporality specific to all living entities. This general theory of biological duration is also applied to a theory of knowledge (or evolutionary epistemology), Bergson showing how even the problems of philosophy (or order and disorder, of being and nothingness), have their origins in a theory of creative life.
This new, critical edition uses the original, authorised translation by Arthur Mitchell, adding a guide to further reading and a new introduction by Bergson scholar Keith Ansell Pearson. It also has a glossary of biological terms, biographical synopses, and other helpful material for readers, proving that Bergson's concept of vital creativity still has pertinence for both the latest developments in contemporary evolutionary theory and philosophy.
Reviews
'Palgrave Macmillan is to be congratulated for reissuing these classic Bergson texts. This is a timely decision since Bergson was the great thinker of life and it seems, nearly one hundred years later, that we find ourselves once again required to conceive life. Keith Ansell Pearson and John Mullarkey have been at the forefront of the new conception of life, therefore no better editors for these volumes could be selected.' - Professor Leonard Lawlor, Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis, USA
'Long absent from the center of discussion in Western philosophy, Bergson has recently made a reappearance. The Centennial Series of his works undertaken by Palgrave Macmillan thus comes at an opportune time, making it possible for those interested in Bergson's ideas t have access to newly annotated versions of several of his chief writings, freshly introduced and discussed. It is particularly good to see the republication of Mind-Energy, a treasure trove of Bergsonian insights long out of print.' - Professor Pete A.Y. Gunter, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of North Texas, USA
Contents
Preface; K.Ansell Pearson
Foreword; K.Ansell Pearson
Introduction
The Evolution of Life: Mechanism and Teleology
The Divergent Directions of the Evolution of Life: Torpor, Intelligence, Instinct
On the Meaning of Life: The Order of Nature and the Form of Intelligence
The Cinematographical Mechanism of Thought and the Mechanistic Illusion: A Glance at the History of Systems; Real Becoming and False Evolution
Authors
HENRI BERGSON (1859-1941) is one of the truly great philosophers of the modernist period, and there is currently a major renaissance of interest in his unduly neglected texts and ideas amongst philosophers, literary theorists, and social theorists.
KEITH ANSELL PEARSON is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick, UK. He is the author of Germinal Life: The Difference and Repetition of Deleuze (Routledge, 1999), Philosophy and the Adventure of the Virtual (Routledge, 2001), An Introduction to Nietzsche as Political Thinker (CUP, 1994). He is the co-editor of a forthcoming 'Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche' (Stanford) and editor of the 1890-1930 volume of Acumen's forthcoming 7-volume series in the history of Continental Philosophy.
MICHAEL KOLKMAN and MICHAEL VAUGHAN are Graduate Students at the University of Warwick, UK.
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