A New Philosophy-Henri Bergson

Revue des Deux Mondes

Some of the topics are:

I. Mr Bergson's Work and the General Directions of Contemporary Thought.

II. Immediacy.

III. Theory of Perception.

IV. Critique of Language.

V. The Problem of Consciousness. Duration and Liberty.

VI. The Problem of Evolution: Life and Matter.

VII. The Problem of Knowledge: Analysis and Intuition.

VIII. Method.

IX. Teaching.

There is a thinker whose name is today on everybody's lips, who is deemed by acknowledged philosophers worthy of comparison with the greatest, and who, with his pen as well as his brain, has overleapt all technical obstacles, and won himself a reading both outside and inside the schools. Beyond any doubt, and by common consent, Mr Henri Bergson's work will appear to future eyes among the most characteristic, fertile, and glorious of our era.

As a matter of fact, we cannot abstain from reflection: reflection is today part of our very vision; it comes into play as soon as we open our eyes. So that, to come on the trail of the immediate, there must be effort and work. How are we to guide this effort? In what will this work consist? By what sign shall we be able to recognise that the result has been obtained?