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Appearing here in English for the first time, Vladimir Jankélévitch's Henri Bergson is one of the two great commentaries written on Henri Bergson. Gilles Deleuze's Bergsonism renewed interest in the great French philosopher but failed to consider Bergson's experiential and religious perspectives. Here Jankélévitch covers all aspects of Bergson's thought, emphasizing the concepts of time and duration, memory, evolution, simplicity, love, and joy. A friend of Bergson's, Jankélévitch first published this book in 1931 and revised it in 1959 to treat Bergson's later works. This unabridged translation of the 1959 edition includes an editor's introduction, which contextualizes and outlines Jankélévitch's reading of Bergson, additional essays on Bergson by Jankélévitch, and Bergson's letters to Jankélévitch.
List of contents
Editors' Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction. Jankélévitch on Bergson: Living in Time / Alexandre Lefebvre xi
Introduction 1
1. Organic Totalities 3
I. The Whole and Its Elements 4
II. The Retrospective View and the Illusion of the Future Perfect 11
2. Freedom 23
I. Actor and Spectator 24
II. Becoming 30
III. The Free Act 49
3. Soul and Body 66
I. Thought and Brain 66
II. Recollection and Perception 79
III. Intellection 89
IV. Memory and Matter 94
4. Life 109
I. Finality 109
II. Instinct and Intellect 119
III. Matter and Life 137
5. Heroism and Saintliness 151
I. Suddenness 152
II. The Open and the Closed 156
III. Bergson's Maximalism 159
6. The Nothingness of Concepts and the Plentitude of Spirit 167
I. Fabrication and Organization: The Demiurgic Prejudice 167
II. On the Possible 179
7. Simplicity . . . and Joy 191
I. On Simplicity 191
II. Bergson's Optimism 203
Appendices 211
Supplementary Pieces 247
Preface to the First Edition of Henri Bergson (1930) 247
Letters to Vladimir Jankélévitch by Henri Bergson 248
Letter to Louis Beauduc on First Meeting Bergson (1923) 250
What Is the Value of Bergson's Thought? Interview with Françoise Reiss (1959) 251
Solemn Homage to Henri Bergson (1959) 253
Notes 261
Bibliography 299
Index 315
About the author
Vladimir Jankélévitch (1903-1985) held the chair in moral philosophy at the University of Paris-Sorbonne from 1951 to 1978, and was the author of more than twenty books on philosophy and music.
Alexandre Lefebvre is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government and International Relations and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sydney. He is the coeditor of Bergson, Politics, and Religion, also published by Duke University Press.
Nils F. Schott is James M. Motley Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University and the translator of several books, including The Helmholtz Curves: Tracing Lost Time, by Henning Schmidgen.
Summary
Vladimir Jankélévitch's Henri Bergson is a great commentary written on philosopher Henri Bergson. Jankélévitch's analysis covers all aspects of Bergson's thought, from metaphysics, emotion and temporality, to psychology and biology. This edition also includes supplementary essays on Bergson by Jankélévitch, Bergson's letters to Jankélévitch, and an editor's introduction.
