Creative Evolution by Henri Bergson (Paperback)

by Henri Bergson (Author) "THE existence of which we are most assured and which we know best is unquestionably our own, for of every other object we have notions..." (more)
Key Phrases: cinematographical mechanism, cinematographical method, radical finalism, God of Aristotle, New York, Platonic Ideas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"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."--Leonard Lawlor, University of Memphis

 

'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.' - Pete A.Y. Gunter, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of North Texas

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description
Creative Evolution, originally published in 1911 by Henry Holt and Company, is the work which catapulted Bergson from obscurity into world-wide fame. A study of the philosophical implications of biological evolutionary theory, the impact of this book reached far beyond biology and seemed to many to herald a new age in philosophy and the sciences.

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Product Details Paperback: 460 pages Publisher: University Press of America (November 17, 1983) Language: English ISBN-10: 0819135534 ISBN-13: 978-0819135537 Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #752,593 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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First Sentence:
THE existence of which we are most assured and which we know best is unquestionably our own, for of every other object we have notions which may be considered external and superficial, whereas, of ourselves, our perception is internal and profound. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cinematographical mechanism, cinematographical method, radical finalism, evolutionist hypothesis, science isolates, concrete duration, unorganized matter, cerebral state, nervous elements, universal becoming, vegetable cell, real duration, pure mechanism, nervous centres, accidental variations, geometrical order, psychical state, evolution movement, inert matter

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
God of Aristotle, New York, Platonic Ideas

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 17 books:

• On the Origin of Species (Penguin Classics) by Charles Darwin on page 66, page 68, and page 70
• The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin on page 66, page 68, and page 70
• The Origin Of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition by Charles Darwin on page 66, page 68, and page 70
• An Introduction to Metaphysics by Henri Bergson in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
• Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant on page 303, and page 380

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100 books cite this book:

• Bergson and His Philosophy (Large Print Edition) by J. Alexander Gunn on 31 pages
• Philosophy and the Adventure of the Virtual: Bergson and the Time of Life by Keith Ansell-Pearson on 13 pages
• History of Philosophy, Volume IX: Maine de Biran to Sartre by Frederick Copleston on 10 pages
• Theosophical Quarterly Magazine 1913-1914 by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky on 8 pages
• Jeb, the Modern Job: The Cloning of Johnny by M.D. Dnald C. Austin on 7 pages

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Books on Related Topics (learn more)

The Nick of Time by Elizabeth Grosz

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• radical finalism
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• vegetable cell
• real duration
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Nineteenth-Century Origins of Neuroscientific Concepts by Edwin Clarke

Discusses:

• unorganized matter
• vegetable cell
• nervous centres

The Supramental Manifestation & Other Writings by Aurobindo

Discusses:

• universal becoming
• pure mechanism
• psychical state

Bergson and Modern Thought by Papanicolaou

Discusses:

• radical finalism
• nervous elements
• universal becoming

Germinal Life by Ansell-Pearson

Discusses:

• radical finalism
• concrete duration
• unorganized matter

The Nick of Time by Elizabeth Grosz Discusses: radical finalism science isolates evolution movement The Secret Doctrine, Part 1 by H. P. Blavatsky Discusses: vegetable cell real duration nervous centres Nineteenth-Century Origins of Neuroscientific Concepts by Edwin Clarke Discusses: unorganized matter vegetable cell nervous centres The Supramental Manifestation & Other Writings by Aurobindo Discusses: universal becoming pure mechanism psychical state Loading...

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews 5 star:  (6) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.9 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 43 of 51 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars the light shining between Heraclitus and Bohm, October 27, 1999 By  Frank Bierbrauer (Cardiff, Wales, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Creative Evolution (Paperback) Henri Bergson's seminal ``Creative Evolution'' starts off with the flowing movement so prevalent in his philosophy of the organism, one idea flows into the next in a smooth undivided motion. Not only does Bergson explain his work with analogies and examples supported by the biology of the time, thereby distancing himself from the purely intellectual pursuit of most philosohpy, trapped in the world of the mind, but he demonstrates his thought in the very way of exposition he uses throughout the book. One feels his thought is produced like a Mozart symphony, all at once with no corrections needed. This aptly demonstrates the idea of duration and time he proposes in this book. His influence is profound in thinkers such as David Bohm and Alfred North Whitehead which so to speak ``run with it'' in the parlance of baseball. This is a book worth reading twice for its rich display of creativity and also to reread sections not followed the first time. One does feel however that at times the flow is interrupted by disturbances in his mode of thinking leading to disjointed reading. Nonetheless, not only does he open a whole new way of thought free of dualism and the old patterns of mechanism, but he also expalins the reason for mechanistic thought itself. 13 of 14 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended for fans of Rupert Sheldrake's theories, August 13, 2007 By  Gregory Olsen "renaissance man" (San Ramon, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)       This review is from: Creative Evolution (Paperback) Bergson's thesis is that Darwinian and Lamarkian evolution are only half the story and that there is a creative urge inherent in life that defines the direction of evolution. It is distinguished from Creationism in that his system does not posit and eschaton or final perfect form, nor an external agent (God). It has some similarity with biologist Rupert Sheldrake's theory of morphic fields. In his theory, there is an energy field (as yet undetected by modern physics) that controls the shape of organic molecules, i.e., one protein is shaped one way and the same collection of atoms gets shaped another way under the same pH and temperature. Aldous Huxley mentions Bergson's theory of consciousness several times in his writings. Bergson thinks that consciousness pervades everything, and that intellect serves as a filter that presents only what is comprehensible to mental categories. This has several implications. One is the possibility for a monistic metaphysic. The other is that it leaves open the possibility of perceiving an alternate reality (what excited Huxley). Chapter 3 is about his metaphysics, which are not very clearly expressed. There appear to be avenues unexplored by him. What are the consequences of matter being infused with consciousness? Magic? Why is it that intellect and geometrical thinking is what produces objects in perception? What is the mechanism. What does have value is his theory that chaos is not the absence of repeatability, but is a stochastic process that can be understood as an aggregate of individual "wills." This is used to support his vital theory of evolution. That each organism "wills" its variation in seemingly random fashion, but at a higher order, it produces the regularity of genera. Chapter 4 is a critique of various philosophic systems after establishing his "cinematographic" theory of perception. His basic point is that matter is in continual flux, yet we are only able to perceive it as a sequence of discrete states, hence the illusion of permanence. 28 of 34 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars the opus of the advocate of vitality...., May 16, 2000 By  Craig Chalquist, PhD, author of TERRAPSYCHOLO... (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    This review is from: Creative Evolution (Paperback) Despite Lord Russell's criticism that "intuition works best in bats, bees, and Bergson," in this work Bergson not only finishes the uprooting of the Western and Platonic disembodied intellect (a deconstruction taken only so far by Kant), he presents us with the spectacle of unbridled life creatively shaping, not only its world, but itself in accord with its own telos: the need for eyesight creating the eye, so to speak. Difficult in places but a treasure, although one could wish he gave more credit to Nietzsche's obviously great impact on him. Jungians would do well to peruse Bergson too.		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars A work of monumental importance Creative Evolution is not so much a work, but a milestone in print of a new direction of thought. It is a book that is of immense importance to anyone who wants to understand the... Read more Published on December 20, 2005 by Book Lover 5.0 out of 5 stars From Miller to Ibsen I first came across Ibsen's monumental work when reading 'Tropic of Capricorn' by Henry Miller. Despite my complete lack of evolutionary and biological knowledge, I found Ibsen's... Read more Published on January 13, 2001 by peter hobbs 5.0 out of 5 stars Fugitive from American Misquotes At the turn of the 20th century, in response to the enthusiasm of biochemists who claimed they had discovered the secret of life because they could synthesize animal waste... Read more Published on July 9, 1999 by Heidi Hileman([e-mail]) 5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most profound thinkers of our time Why when Henri Bergson went to lecture to NY in 1913, his presence was celebrated like that of a famous actor? Read more Published on June 3, 1999 by Edgar Paternina Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 460 pages
• Publisher: University Press of America (November 17, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819135534
• ISBN-13: 978-0819135537
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #752,593 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the light shining between Heraclitus and Bohm, October 27, 1999

By	Frank Bierbrauer (Cardiff, Wales, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Creative Evolution (Paperback)

Henri Bergson's seminal ``Creative Evolution'' starts off with the flowing movement so prevalent in his philosophy of the organism, one idea flows into the next in a smooth undivided motion. Not only does Bergson explain his work with analogies and examples supported by the biology of the time, thereby distancing himself from the purely intellectual pursuit of most philosohpy, trapped in the world of the mind, but he demonstrates his thought in the very way of exposition he uses throughout the book. One feels his thought is produced like a Mozart symphony, all at once with no corrections needed. This aptly demonstrates the idea of duration and time he proposes in this book. His influence is profound in thinkers such as David Bohm and Alfred North Whitehead which so to speak ``run with it'' in the parlance of baseball. This is a book worth reading twice for its rich display of creativity and also to reread sections not followed the first time. One does feel however that at times the flow is interrupted by disturbances in his mode of thinking leading to disjointed reading. Nonetheless, not only does he open a whole new way of thought free of dualism and the old patterns of mechanism, but he also expalins the reason for mechanistic thought itself.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended for fans of Rupert Sheldrake's theories, August 13, 2007

By	Gregory Olsen "renaissance man" (San Ramon, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Creative Evolution (Paperback)

Bergson's thesis is that Darwinian and Lamarkian evolution are only half the story and that there is a creative urge inherent in life that defines the direction of evolution. It is distinguished from Creationism in that his system does not posit and eschaton or final perfect form, nor an external agent (God).

It has some similarity with biologist Rupert Sheldrake's theory of morphic fields. In his theory, there is an energy field (as yet undetected by modern physics) that controls the shape of organic molecules, i.e., one protein is shaped one way and the same collection of atoms gets shaped another way under the same pH and temperature.

Aldous Huxley mentions Bergson's theory of consciousness several times in his writings. Bergson thinks that consciousness pervades everything, and that intellect serves as a filter that presents only what is comprehensible to mental categories. This has several implications. One is the possibility for a monistic metaphysic. The other is that it leaves open the possibility of perceiving an alternate reality (what excited Huxley).

Chapter 3 is about his metaphysics, which are not very clearly expressed. There appear to be avenues unexplored by him. What are the consequences of matter being infused with consciousness? Magic? Why is it that intellect and geometrical thinking is what produces objects in perception? What is the mechanism.

What does have value is his theory that chaos is not the absence of repeatability, but is a stochastic process that can be understood as an aggregate of individual "wills." This is used to support his vital theory of evolution. That each organism "wills" its variation in seemingly random fashion, but at a higher order, it produces the regularity of genera.

Chapter 4 is a critique of various philosophic systems after establishing his "cinematographic" theory of perception. His basic point is that matter is in continual flux, yet we are only able to perceive it as a sequence of discrete states, hence the illusion of permanence.

28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the opus of the advocate of vitality...., May 16, 2000

By	Craig Chalquist, PhD, author of TERRAPSYCHOLO... (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Creative Evolution (Paperback)

Despite Lord Russell's criticism that "intuition works best in bats, bees, and Bergson," in this work Bergson not only finishes the uprooting of the Western and Platonic disembodied intellect (a deconstruction taken only so far by Kant), he presents us with the spectacle of unbridled life creatively shaping, not only its world, but itself in accord with its own telos: the need for eyesight creating the eye, so to speak. Difficult in places but a treasure, although one could wish he gave more credit to Nietzsche's obviously great impact on him. Jungians would do well to peruse Bergson too.