Creative Evolution
by Henri Bergson · L'Évolution créatrice
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1907
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- French
- Length
- Long · 410 pp300 to 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendCreative Evolution, translated by Arthur MitchellDover, 1998The 1911 authorised translation, still the one most readers use, in an inexpensive reprint.
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Bergson's best known book argues that life is driven by an élan vital, an original impulse that pushes through matter into ever new forms and cannot be reduced to mechanism or to design. He contrasts intellect, which evolved to handle solid bodies and so treats everything as spatial and calculable, with intuition, which grasps duration and life from within. The book examines Darwinian and Lamarckian accounts of evolution, the branching of instinct and intelligence, and the intellect's inability to think becoming.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Creative Evolution are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
