Bergsonism and the History of Analytic Philosophy

During the first quarter of the twentieth century, the French philosopher Henri Bergson became an international celebrity, profoundly influencing contemporary intellectual and artistic currents. While Bergsonism was fashionable, L. Susan Stebbing, Bertrand Russell, Moritz Schlick, and Rudolf Carnap launched different critical attacks against some of Bergson's views. This book examines this series of critical responses to Bergsonism early in the history of analytic philosophy. Analytic criticisms of Bergsonism were influenced by William James, who saw Bergson as an 'anti-intellectualist' ally of American Pragmatism, and Max Scheler, who saw him as a prophet of Lebensphilosophie. Some of the main analytic objections to Bergson are answered in the work of Karin Costelloe-Stephen. Analytic anti-Bergsonism accompanied the earlier refutations of idealism by Russell and Moore, and later influenced the Vienna Circle's critique of metaphysics. It eventually contributed tothe formation of the view that 'analytic' philosophy is divided from its 'continental' counterpart.

Auteur

Andreas Vrahimis works at the Department of Classics and Philosophy, University of Cyprus. His previous works include Encounters between Analytic and Continental Philosophy (2013).

Contenu

1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Prelude: Bergsonism and Anglophone analytic philosophy.- Chapter 3: Henri Bergson: A misunderstood celebrity.- Chapter 4: William James and Bergson's Anglophone reception.- Chapter 5: 'Ants, bees, and Bergson': Bertrand Russell's polemic.- Chapter 6: 'Analytic' and 'Synthetic' Philosophy: Karin Costelloe-Stephen's defences of Bergson.- Chapter 7: A call for moderation: L. Susan Stebbing's critique of Bergson.- Chapter 8: Entr'acte: Bergson's Germanophone reception.- Chapter 9: Evolutionary Epistemology: Moritz Schlick's critique of intuition.- Chapter 10: From the critique of intuition to overcoming metaphysics: Schlick's dialogue with Carnap.- Chapter 11: Different kinds of Nothing.- Chapter 12: Doing without Masters: Oxford philosophy and the analytic-continental divide.- Chapter 13: Conclusion