Henri Bergson

Henri Bergson
Bergson in 1927
Born
Henri-Louis Bergson

(1859-10-18)18 October 1859
Paris, Second French Empire
Died4 January 1941(1941-01-04) (aged 81)
Spouse
Louise Neuberger
(m. 1891)
AwardsNobel Prize in Literature (1927)
Education
Education
Philosophical work
Era20th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
School
  • Continental philosophy
  • French spiritualism
  • philosophy of life[1]
  • process philosophy[2]
InstitutionsCollège de France
Main interests
Notable works
  • Time and Free Will (1889)
  • Matter and Memory (1896)
  • Creative Evolution (1907)
Notable ideas
  • Duration
  • intuition
  • affection
  • élan vital
  • immediate data of consciousness
  • open society
Signature

Henri-Louis Bergson (/ˈbɜːrɡsən, bɛərɡ-/;[3] French: [bɛʁksɔn]; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the Second World War,[4] but also after 1966 when Gilles Deleuze published Le Bergsonisme.

Bergson is known for his arguments that processes of immediate experience and intuition are more significant than abstract rationalism and science for understanding reality. Bergson was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas and the brilliant skill with which they have been presented".[5] In 1930, France awarded him its highest honour, the Grand-Croix de la Legion d'honneur. Bergson's great popularity created a controversy in France, where his views were seen as opposing the "secular and scientific" attitude adopted by the Republic's officials.[6]

  1. ^ John Ó Maoilearca, Beth Lord (eds.), The Continuum Companion to Continental Philosophy, Bloomsbury Academic, 2009, p. 204.
  2. ^ "Process Philosophy". Process Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. 2022.
  3. ^ "Bergson". Collins English Dictionary.
  4. ^ Merquior, J. G. (1987). Foucault (Fontana Modern Masters series), University of California Press, p.11. ISBN 0-520-06062-8.
  5. ^ "The Nobel prize in Literature". Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  6. ^ Robert C. Grogin, The Bergsonian Controversy in France, 1900–1914, Univ of Calgary Press (May 1988), ISBN 0919813305