Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness

275 Pages·2001·6.813 MB·English

by  Henri Bergson

TIME
AND
FREE WILL
ANE SSAOYN T HEI MMEDIATE
DATAO FC ONSCIOUSNESS
Henri Ber son
g
Authorktd Transblayt ion
F. PLog.s on, M.A.
DOVER PUBLICATIONISN,C .
BiblioNgortaep hical
ThiDso vere ditifoinr,ps utb lisihne2 d0 01i,sa nu nabridrgeepdu bli­
catioonf t het hiredcli tioonf t hew orko riginpaulbllyi sihne1d 9 1b3y
GeorgAel le&n C ompanyL,t dL.o, ndon.
LiborCfao ryng rCeastsa loging-Diatna- Publication
BergsoHne,n ri1,8 59-1941.
(Esssauirl edso nneeism mediadteeI sa c onscieEnncgel.i sh]
Timea ndf rewei l:la ne ssaoynt hei mmecliatdea toaf c onsciousness
IH enrBie rgso;an u thorizetdr anslabtiyoF n.L .P ogson.
p.cm.
Originaplulbyl ish3erdde: d .L ondo:nG .A lle1n9,1 3.
Includbeisb liograrpehfiecraeln( cp}e.s .
ISBN0 -486-417(6p7b-k0. }
1.C onscious2n.eF srse.we i laln dd etermin3i.sS mp.a caen dt ime.
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Manufactuirnte hde U niteSdt atoefsA merica
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TRANSLATOR'PSR EFACE
BERGSOwNa sb orinn P ariOsc,t ober
HENRLIo urs
r8r,S sHge. e nteretdh eE colen ormalien
187a8nd,w as admittaegdr egdee philosophie
inr 88anrd d octeur lettriensI 88Agf.te r
es
holdipnrgo fessorisnhv iaprsi opurso vinciaanld
Parisilaync eehse,b ecammea itrdee c onferences
att heE colneo rmalseu perieinur re 8ga7nd,
sincreg ooh asb eenp rofesastot rh eC olledgee
FranceI.n r goher b ecamae membero ft he
Institount ehi s electitoont heA cademidee s
Sciencmeosr aleetsp olitiques.
A fullils to fP rofessor Bewrogrskoisns g' isv en
int hea ppendebdi bliogr.a Iphny makingt he
followitnrga nslaotfih oinsE sssauilr e dso nnees
immldiadtele asc onscIi heanvceh ead t heg reat
advantaogfeh isc o-operaatti eovne rys tage,
andt hea idw hichh eh asg ivehna sb een most
generouasn d untinrgi.T he book itwsaesl f
workeodu ta ndw rittdeunr ing ytehaer s1 883
tor 88an7d waosr iginaplulbyl ishiend 1 88g.
The foot-noitnet sh eF rencehd iticoonn taai n
certaniunm bero fr eferentcoeF sr encthr ans­
latioonfsE ngliswho rk.s Int hep resetnrta ns­
latioanm responsfiobrlc ei titnhge se references
I
fromt heo riginEanlg lish.T hisw illa ccount
v
'
TRANSLATSO RPREFACE
V1
fort hef actth ate ditioanrses ometimreesf erred
tow hichh avea ppearesdu bsequenttol ry8 8g.
I havael soa ddedf airleyx tensimvaer ginal
summariaensd a fulinld ex.
InF rancteh eE ssaia lreaind yi tss eventh
is
editioInn.d eedo,n eo f them osts triking facts
about Professor Bergissot nh'ese xtweonrtk s
to whicht heyh avea ppealneod to nlyt o the
professipohnilaols ophebrusta, l stoo t heo rdinary
cultivatpeudb licT.h em ethowdh ichhe p ursues
isn ott hec onceptaunadla bstramcett hodw hich
hasb eent hed ominantt raditiino pnh ilosophy.
Forh im realiist yn ott o be reachebdy any
elaboractoen structioofnt houghti:t i sg iven
in immediate expearsai eflnucxe,a continuous
proceosfsb ecomintgo,b eg raspebdy intuition,
by sympatheitnisci ghCto.n cepbtrse aukp the
continufloouwso fr ealiitnyt poa rtesx ternatlo
onea nothetrh,e fy urthtehrei ntereosflt asn guage
and socliiafalen da reu sefpulr imarifloyrp rac­
tical purpBoustet sh.e yg ivues nothinogft he
lifaen dm ovemenotf r eali;t rya thebry, s ub­
stitutfinogr t hisa n artificrieaclo nstrucat ion,
patchwoorfk d eadf ragmentthse,y l eadt ot he
difficultiwehsi ch have ablewsaeyttsh ei ntel­
lectuaplhiislto sopahnyd, w hicho n itsp remises
arein solublIen.s teaodf attemptian sgo lution
in the intellectsueanlsiesP,tr ofessBoerr gson
callusp onh isr eadetrosp utt hesber okefnr ag­
mentso fr ealibteyh intdh emt,o i mmersteh em­
selveisn thel ivings treaomf thingasn dt o
'
TRANSLATSO PRREFACE
Vll
findt heidri fficultsiweesp atw ayi ni trse sistless
flow.
Int hep resevnotl umPer ofessBoerr gsofinr st
dealwist h thei ntensoiftc yo nscious sHtea tes.
showtsh aqtu antitative diaffreear pepnlciecsa ble
onlyt om agnitudtehsa,ti si, nt hel asrte sort,
tos pacea,n dt hati ntensiinti yt seilsfp urely
qualitatiPvaes.s itnhge nf romt hec onsideration
ofs eparactoen scisotuast teost heimru ltiplicity,
hefi ndst hatth eraer et wof ormosf m ultipli:c ity
quantitaotrid vies cremtuel tiplicity tihnev olves
intuitoifso pna cbeu,t t hem ultipliocfci otnys cious
stateiss whollyq ualitatiTvhei.s u nfolding
multipliccointsyt itudtuersa tiownh,i chi sa
successwiiotnh oduits tincatniio nnt,e rpenetration
ofe lemenstosh eterogentehoautsf ormesrt ates
cann everr ecurT.h e ideao fa homogeneous
andm easurabtliem ei ss hownt obe ana rtificial
concepfto,r mebdy thein trusioofnt hei deao f
spacien ttoh er ealomf p ured uratioInn.d eed,
thew holeo f ProfessBoerr gsonp'hsil osophy
centrerso undh isc onceptioofn r eaclo ncrete
duratanidot hnes peciffiec eloifd nugra tiwohni ch
ourc onscioushnaessw sh eni td oesa wayw ith
conventainodnh abiatn dg etbsa ckt oi tnsa tural
attitudAet.t her oootf m oste rroirnsp hilosophy
hefi ndsa confusion btehtiwcseo enn cdruertaet ion
andt hea bsttriamcwhietc hm athematipchsy,s ics,
ande venl anguagaen dc ommons ensseu,b stitute
fori t.A pplyintgh esree sulttos t hep roblem
off rewei llh,e showst hatt hed ifficultaireiss e
viii TRANSLATOPRR'ESF ACB
from takuipn ogn e'sst anadf ttehera cth asb een
performaend,da pplyitnhge c onceptmueatlh od
to it.F rom thep oinotf viewo f thel iving,
developsienlgtf h esdei fficultaireess h own tobe
illusoarnyd,f reedotmh,o ugnho td efinabilne
abstraocrtc oncepttuearlm si,s d eclarteodb e
oneo ft hec learefasctt ess tablisbhye odb serva­
tion.
Iti sn o doubtm isleaditnoga ttemptto s um
up a systeomf philosopihnya sentencbeu,t
perhapsso mep arto ft hes piroiftP rofesBseorrg ­
son'psh ilosompahyybe gatherferdo mt hem otto
whichw,i thh isp ermissiIo hna,v e prefitxoe d
thist ransla:t-i"o Inf a man weret o inquire
of Naturteh e reaosfoh ne rc reatiavcet ivity,
andi fs hew erew illintgo g ivee ara nda nswer,
shew oulds ay-'A sk me not,b utu nderstand
ins ilenecvee,n a sI am sileanntd a m notw ont
tos peak". '
F. POGSON.
L.
OXFORD,
June,
rgro.
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