Creative Evolution

Bergson, Henri, 1859-1941Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.6

Word count: 830K words
Chapters: 83

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Creative Evolution by Henri BergsonAuthor: Bergson, Henri, 1859-1941,Language: English, Class: B: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Release Date: Aug 1, 2008

Editor's review

Creative Evolution is one of Bergson's central philosophical works. Its core is the idea of the élan vital as the force explaining the development and differentiation of life, and its insistence that time is real duration rather than a measurable, spatialized sequence. The argument is dense and the concepts build layer by layer, touching on the relations among life, consciousness, instinct, and intelligence. It is important for understanding twentieth-century philosophy of life and process thought. Its strength lies not in conclusions but in a way of seeing change and creation: the world is not the unfolding of a fixed order but an ongoing process of becoming. The book demands some philosophical training, and patience with terms such as duration, intuition, and intelligence. It is best read chapter by chapter in a quiet setting, with notes tracing how the concepts lead into one another. General readers need not grasp every argument at once; they can first take in the overall line of thought and return to key chapters later. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to search and compare, and well suited to chapter-by-chapter reading-group discussion.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Philosophy students and readers interested in the philosophy of life
Scholars of Bergson and process philosophy
Advanced readers seeking to understand time and creation
Serious readers willing to read slowly and take conceptual notes

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for light entertainment or a quick read
Readers with little philosophical background who do not want to look up terms
Readers expecting concrete scientific experimental results

Reading tips

Start with the introduction or preface to grasp the book's central questions and argumentative framework.
Prepare a glossary and note key terms such as duration, intuition, and élan vital as you read.
Write a short summary after each chapter, restating the problem that chapter addresses.
Use background material on the history of philosophy to understand the intellectual debates Bergson was engaged in.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can I read this book without any background in philosophy?

You can try, but it will be difficult. Many terms require outside reference, and the argument is tightly linked. Reading a concise history of philosophy or an introduction to Bergson first will make the original much smoother.

What is the book mainly about?

It centers on the creativity and evolution of life, discussing time as duration, the differentiating role of the élan vital, and the different functions of instinct and intelligence in knowing the world. It tries to show how the world is continually coming into being rather than unfolding according to a fixed program.

Do I need to read other works alongside it?

Not strictly, but it helps. Knowing Bergson's earlier work on time and consciousness makes the starting point clearer, and some familiarity with evolutionary theory helps in grasping his dialogue with other currents of thought.

Comments

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About the author

Bergson, Henri, 1859-1941 Author

Henri Bergson (1859–1941) was a French philosopher known for his reflections on time, consciousness, and the vital impulse. Five of his works are included here, spanning philosophy, aesthetics, and reflections on war. Time and Free Will examines free will and the experience of time; Creative Evolution explains evolution through the vital impulse; Laughter analyzes comedy and the social function of laughter from a philosophical angle; The Meaning of the War reflects on the conflict between life and matter; and Dreams explores dreams and states of consciousness. These works show his gift for making abstract questions concrete and vivid through fluent prose, often challenging mechanism and determinism with the concepts of intuition and duration. His thought has influenced philosophy, literature, and psychology. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted, and this introduction focuses on the themes and style of his works.