Henri Bergson
French philosopher who emphasized intuition over abstract rationalism.
Henri-Louis Bergson was a French philosopher influential in analytic and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century. He argued that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than abstract rationalism and science for understanding reality.
- born
- 18 October 1859
- died
- 4 January 1941
- field
- Philosophy
- nationality
- French
- known_for
- Processes of immediate experience and intuition over abstract rationalism
Lore & Background
Bergson was born in Paris in 1859 to a Polish-Jewish father and an English-Jewish mother. He attended the Lycée Fontanes in Paris, won a prize for solving a mathematical problem in 1877, and later entered the École Normale Supérieure. He obtained his agrégation de philosophie in 1881 and taught at lycées in Angers and Clermont-Ferrand before earning his doctorate in 1889 with the dissertation Time and Free Will.
Reader's Guide
Bergson's significance lies in his challenge to the primacy of abstract rationalism and science, advocating instead for intuition and immediate experience as keys to understanding reality. His four principal works—Time and Free Will (1889), Matter and Memory (1896), Creative Evolution (1907), and The Two Sources of Morality and Religion (1932)—shaped both analytic and continental philosophy. Awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize in Literature and France's Grand-Croix de la Legion d'honneur in 1930, his popularity sparked controversy in France, where his views were seen as opposing the secular, scientific attitude of the Republic. His influence revived after 1966 with Gilles Deleuze's Le Bergsonisme.
Did You Know?
- Bergson was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize in Literature.
- He married Louise Neuberger, a cousin of Marcel Proust, who served as best man.
- His daughter Jeanne was born deaf in 1896.
- He lost his religious faith between ages 14 and 16 after discovering the theory of evolution.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"Henri-Louis Bergson (18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a major French philosopher, influential in the first half of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize in Literature." — Henri Bergson "I cannot escape the objection that there is no state of mind, however simple, that does not change every moment." — Henri Bergson "The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect was already in the cause." — Henri Bergson "Creative Evolution (1907), Chapter I, as translated by Arthur Mitchell (1911), p. 14.; italicized in the original." — Henri Bergson
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