Henri Bergson’s Life and Thought
Henri Bergson, born on October 18, 1859, in Paris, France, was one of the most prominent philosophers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His life and work were deeply embedded in a period of significant intellectual, cultural, and scientific transformation, which shaped both his thinking and the reception of his works. Bergson’s contributions to philosophy earned him widespread recognition, culminating in the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, but his legacy extends far beyond his accolades.
Bergson was born into a well-educated and artistic family. His father, a musician, and his mother, of Anglo-Irish descent, ensured that artistry and intellectual inquiry were integral to his upbringing. He received a rigorous education in the French academic tradition, excelling both in scientific and literary pursuits. Bergson studied at the prestigious Lycée Condorcet in Paris before entering the École Normale Supérieure in 1878, where he solidified his foundation in philosophy. His academic brilliance was already apparent during this time, as he was awarded multiple prizes for his achievements.
The period during which Bergson lived and wrote was marked by profound philosophical and cultural shifts. He came of age during the tail-end of the 19th century, a time when scientific advancements were challenging traditional worldviews. The Industrial Revolution had dramatically altered society, while Darwin’s theory of evolution introduced new ways of understanding life and humanity’s place in the world. Across Europe, modernism was emerging as an intellectual movement, questioning classical forms of expression in favour of innovation, experimentation, and a deep engagement with the subjective nature of human experience.
Philosophically, Bergson’s time coincided with the dominance of systems like positivism, which emphasized reason, logic, and empirical science. Auguste Comte’s positivist framework had profoundly impacted European thought, leading many intellectuals to favour scientific explanations for practically all aspects of life, from human behaviour to metaphysics. At the same time, German philosophers such as Immanuel Kant and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel had set the stage for comprehensive systems of idealism and epistemology, inspiring others to reconcile rational thought with metaphysical inquiry. Friedrich Nietzsche, a contemporary of Bergson, was critiquing traditional morality and advancing ideas about the human will, offering an explosive challenge to centuries of theological and philosophical orthodoxy.
It was in this intellectual environment that Bergson rose to prominence. Teaching at institutions such as the Lycée Henri-IV and the Collège de France, he gained a reputation as a philosopher with a distinctive voice that resisted the prevailing trends of hyper-rationality and mechanistic interpretations of reality. Rather than aligning himself strictly with existing movements, Bergson represented a departure, emphasizing intuition and the fluid nature of time in a way that resonated with the cultural anxieties and aspirations of his era.
The cultural climate of the early 20th century was arguably just as formative to Bergson’s work as its philosophical backdrop. The late 19th century and early 20th century were defined by a growing awareness of the disjunction between human intuition and the rigid frameworks of empirical science. The Dreyfus Affair in France, a politically charged trial that revealed deep divisions in French society, reflected broader tensions about authority, ethics, and national identity. This sociopolitical backdrop added complexity to the intellectual debates of Bergson’s day, influencing his career as both a thinker and public figure.
Bergson’s intellectual prominence grew significantly in the early 20th century, particularly through the publication of key works, including Time and Free Will (1889), Matter and Memory (1896), and Creative Evolution (1907). His ideas seemed to resonate with a diverse audience beyond academic circles, making his lectures immensely popular. Discussions of Bergson’s work often extended to literature, psychology, and emerging fields of social science, and he cultivated influence across Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, where thinkers like Alfred North Whitehead and T. S. Eliot engaged with his ideas.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 marked a shift not only in Europe’s political and social structure but also in the trajectory of Bergson’s life. Though his productivity as a philosopher slowed in the aftermath of the war, he took on important public responsibilities. He was an advocate for human unity and reconciliation, particularly in the League of Nations, where he served as president of the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.
Henri Bergson lived during a time of constant change and upheaval, and his life paralleled the cultural transitions from 19th-century industrialism to 20th-century explorations of modernity. He passed away on January 4, 1941, during the German occupation of France. Bergson’s decision to decline refuge and remain in Paris, despite his Jewish heritage, spoke to his deep commitment to solidarity with his fellow citizens during a time of crisis. His life, shaped by the tensions and opportunities of his era, left an indelible mark on the history of philosophy.
Key Ideas in Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- Creative Evolution and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- Duration and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- Élan Vital and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- Freedom and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- Intuition and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- Laughter and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- Memory and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- Multiplicity and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- Perception And Change and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- The Cinematographic Mechanism and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- The Open And Closed Society and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy
- The Self and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy