
The Essential Works of Henri Bergson (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Time, Consciousness, Intuition, Creative Evolution, and the Living Movement of ExperienceBy Henri BergsonLength27h 37m
About this audiobook
The Essential Works of Henri Bergson gathers the central writings of one of modern philosophy's most original voices, bringing together his reflections on time, consciousness, memory, evolution, creativity, laughter, and moral life. Written in a prose at once rigorous and unusually luminous, Bergson's philosophy resists mechanistic reduction and static abstraction, insisting instead on duration, intuition, and the living movement of experience. The volume belongs to the vitalist and anti-positivist currents of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century thought, while also speaking directly to phenomenology, modernism, psychology, and metaphysics. Henri Bergson, born in Paris in 1859, was a philosopher of extraordinary intellectual range whose work responded to the scientific, technological, and spiritual tensions of his age. Trained in mathematics and philosophy, he sought to reconcile disciplined analysis with the immediacy of lived experience. His influence across Europe was immense, culminating in the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, awarded for the richness and vitality of his ideas and expression. This collection is highly recommended for readers seeking a profound alternative to purely analytical or materialist accounts of reality. It will especially reward students of philosophy, literature, intellectual history, and modernist culture who wish to encounter a thinker for whom life is not a problem to be dissected, but a movement to be understood from within.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenrePhilosophy
Length27 hrs 37 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 21, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Author Biography
4Historical Context
5Synopsis (Selection)
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6Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic
7TRANSLATORS' PREFACE
8CHAPTER I
9I
10II
11III
12IV
13V
14CHAPTER II
15I
16II
17CHAPTER III
18I
19II
20III
21IV
22V
23Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness
24TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
25AUTHOR'S PREFACE
26CHAPTER I THE INTENSITY OF PSYCHIC STATES
27CHAPTER II THE MULTIPLICITY OF CONSCIOUS STATES1
28CHAPTER III THE ORGANIZATION OF CONSCIOUS STATES
29CONCLUSION
30BIBLIOGRAPHY
31Creative Evolution
32TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
33INTRODUCTION
34CHAPTER I THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE — MECHANISM AND TELEOLOGY (pt. 1)
35CHAPTER I THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE — MECHANISM AND TELEOLOGY (pt. 2)
36CHAPTER II THE DIVERGENT DIRECTIONS OF THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE. TORPOR, INTELLIGENCE, INSTINCT (pt. 1)
37CHAPTER II THE DIVERGENT DIRECTIONS OF THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE. TORPOR, INTELLIGENCE, INSTINCT (pt. 2)
38CHAPTER III ON THE MEANING OF LIFE — THE ORDER OF NATURE AND THE FORM OF INTELLIGENCE (pt. 1)
39CHAPTER III ON THE MEANING OF LIFE — THE ORDER OF NATURE AND THE FORM OF INTELLIGENCE (pt. 2)
40CHAPTER IV THE CINEMATOGRAPHICAL MECHANISM OF THOUGHT AND THE MECHANISTIC ILLUSION — A GLANCE AT THE HISTORY OF SYSTEMS96 — REAL BECOMING AND FALSE EVOLUTIONISM (pt. 1)
41CHAPTER IV THE CINEMATOGRAPHICAL MECHANISM OF THOUGHT AND THE MECHANISTIC ILLUSION — A GLANCE AT THE HISTORY OF SYSTEMS96 — REAL BECOMING AND FALSE EVOLUTIONISM (pt. 2)
42Meaning of the War: Life & Matter in Conflict
43INTRODUCTION
44LIFE AND MATTER AT WAR
45THE FORCE WHICH WASTES AND THAT WHICH DOES NOT WASTE
46DREAMS
47INTRODUCTION
48DREAMS
49Analysis
50Reflection