Gunter, P. A. Y., ed. Bergson and the Evolution of Physics. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1969.

Abstract

Henri Bergson (1859-1941), the most distinguished and influential French philosopher of modern times, is widely known for the psychological and biological implications of his thought. However, his reflections extended to the physical sciences as well, and his speculations concerning the nature of matter, energy, time, space, causation, and other physical concepts were broadly prophetic of subsequent theoretical revolutions in physics. The essays collected in this volume demonstrate Bergson's contemporaneity and evaluate this largely neglected aspect of his thought. Besides shedding new light on an important but neglected aspect of Bergson's philosophy, this volume has the merit of making a stimulating but little-known body of opinion accessible for the first time in English. The scientists and philosophers represented here are concerned with Bergson's claims, criticisms, and insights, in order to clarify their understanding of the past and the future evolution of physics. They deal with Bergson's concept of lived time, his critique of spatial abstractions, his theories of the nature of matter - not as curious specimens of an outdated intellectual milieu, but as living issues in the philosophical interpretation of science. The editor's introductory essay analyzes Bergson's method of philosophical exploration and argues that Bergson's philosophy of intuition has been misunderstood by otherwise astute critics, that it is the affirmation, not the negation, of the scientific enterprise. Indeed, seeing Bergson's intuition as a form of reflection is vital to any understanding of his philosophy of science, and Professor Gunter's compelling argument heightens appreciation of the remainder of the volume. The essays that follow are divided into four sections. The first section, introduced by Nobel Prize winner Louis de Broglie, concerns quantum physics. The second, beginning with a discussion between Bergson and Albert Einstein, is devoted to relativity physics. In the third section, the nature of Bergson's theory of duration is debated by Professors Vere C. Chappell and David A. Sipfle. Professor Milič Čapek's clear, insightful survey of the relevance of Bergson's thought to twentieth-century physics as a whole concludes the volume.