Memory of Matter. Henri Bergson and Material Bases of Remembrance

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 223-242
Author(s):  
Bogusław Maryniak
Keyword(s):  
Human Existence ◽  
Henri Bergson ◽  
Existential Analysis ◽  
Radical Empiricism ◽  
Vital Force ◽  
The Past ◽  
Greek Thought ◽  
Archaeology Of Knowledge ◽  
Élan Vital ◽  
Philosophical Questions

The paper aims at reconsidering the problem of existence and recognition of the past in modernistic philosophy. For Henri Bergson, duration is one of the most enigmatic constituents of human existence. In 1896, when he tackled the question of memory, Bergson reached for the basic philosophical questions posed at the very beginning of the Early Greek thought, then asked by Berkeley’s radical empiricism (so called Berkeley’s razor) and subsequently by Kantian Transcendentalism. All these questions have led to the existential analysis of duration which allows for the new foundation of the idea of remembrance and finally the phenomenon of memory. Bergson has treated memory as one of the most important manifestations of vital force (fr. élan vital). The paper culminates with the analysis of artefact as the foundation of the Archaeology of Knowledge. Polish bergsonism and its references to the issue of memory were presented in a poem written by Bolesław Leśmian

Acta Fluens – Generatives Handeln und Improvisation im Jazz

2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Davide Sparti
Keyword(s):  
Walter Benjamin ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of

Obwohl jede menschliche Handlung mit einem gewissen Grad an Improvisation erfolgt, gibt es kulturelle Praktiken, bei denen Improvisation eine überwiegende Rolle spielt. Um das Risiko zu vermeiden, einen zu breiten Begriff von Improvisation zu übernehmen, konzentriere ich mich im vorliegenden Beitrag auf den Jazz. Meine zentrale Frage lautet, wie Improvisation verstanden werden muss. Mein Vorgehen ist folgendes: Ich beginne mit einem Vergleich von Improvisation und Komposition, damit die Spezifizität der Improvisation erklärt werden kann. Danach wende ich mich dem Thema der Originalität als Merkmal der Improvisation zu. Zum Schluss führe ich den Begriff affordance ein, um die kollektive und zirkuläre Logik eines Solos zu analysieren. Paradigmatisch wird der Jazzmusiker mit dem Engel der Geschichte verglichen, der nur auf das Vergangene blickt, während er der Zukunft den Rücken zugekehrt hat, und lediglich ihr zugetrieben wird. Weder kann der Improvisierende das Material der Vergangenheit vernachlässigen noch seine genuine Tätigkeit, das Improvisieren in der Gegenwart und für die Zukunft, aufgeben: Er visiert die Zukunft trotz ihrer Unvorhersehbarkeit über die Vermittlung der Vergangenheit an.<br><br>While improvised behavior is so much a part of human existence as to be one of its fundamental realities, in order to avoid the risk of defining the act of improvising too broadly, my focus here will be upon one of the activities most explicitly centered around improvisation – that is, upon jazz. My contribution, as Wittgenstein would say, has a »grammatical« design to it: it proposes to clarify the significance of the term »improvisation.« The task of clarifying the cases in which one may legitimately speak of improvisation consists first of all in reflecting upon the conditions that make the practice possible. This does not consist of calling forth mysterious, esoteric processes that take place in the unconscious, or in the minds of musicians, but rather in paying attention to the criteria that are satisfied when one ascribes to an act the concept of improvisation. In the second part of my contribution, I reflect upon the logic that governs the construction of an improvised performance. As I argue, in playing upon that which has already emerged in the music, in discovering the future as they go on (as a consequence of what they do), jazz players call to mind the angel in the famous painting by Klee that Walter Benjamin analyzed in his Theses on the History of Philosophy: while pulled towards the future, its eyes are turned back towards the past.

Experiencia, realidad y verdad en el pragmatismo. Entre William James y Henri Bergson

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 121-141
Author(s):  
Alberto Villalobos Manjarrez
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
Henri Bergson ◽  
Radical Empiricism ◽  
Decisive Influence

The aim of this work is to explore the relations between the concepts of experience, reality and truth in the philosophy of William James, through a dialogue with Henri Bergson, a decisive influence for the pragmatist. This text is divided into five parts: 1) a brief introduction to the problem; 2) the development of the concept of experience in James philosophy; 3) the explanation of the concept of reality in this radical empiricism; 4) the exposition of three forms of truth that correspond to antiquity, modenity and pragmatism; 5) and, finally, a brief conclusion about the posterities and the actuality of this empirical philosophy.

The concept of the frame in philosophical terms – the role of time and memory in human existence

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 193-201
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Olewińska
Keyword(s):  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
William Faulkner ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
First Century ◽  
Henri Bergson ◽  
Sound And The Fury ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Time Frames

In The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner writes: “Time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops, does time come to life.” The following words relate to the role of memory frames in human life. They also begin the analysis of the ideas of twentieth and twenty-first century philosophers such as Henri Bergson, Martin Heidegger, Paul Ricoeur and David Farrell Krell. Even though there is a strict reference to the Modernist thinkers, the author goes slightly deeper, reminding earlier concepts of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle and Protagoras. The second part of the article has been devoted to the notions connected with time frames and memory such as experiencing of the passage of time, reminding, forgetting, forgiving as well as postmemory.

Die Ausnahme bei Christian Garve und Søren Kierkegaard

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-288
Author(s):  
Sabine Ackermann
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Soren Kierkegaard ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
The Past ◽  
Fear And Trembling

AbstractAlthough people have established rules to secure their life and values, they seem to search—and to have searched, time and again, in the past—for exceptions to those rules, and this for different purposes. The article compares two concepts of exception, suggested by Kierkegaard in Fear and Trembling and by Garve in his Treatise on the Connection between Moral and Politics, respectively. A systematic-critical analysis shows certain intersections between their specific ways of handling the proposed exception. Garve’s concept of exception requires an original status naturalis between countries to increase happiness, and this is claimed by an established sovereign ruling with trust in God for his people. By contrast, the exception of Kierkegaard’s teleological suspension of the ethical turns out, precisely by being based on an individual’s relationship with God, to be incommensurable with purportedly universal social, ethical and political standards. This notwithstanding, both conceptions build on the notion of a human existence, which is subject to and ultimately dependent upon no one except the immortal God.

scholarly journals Indecisão plena de promessas: imagens da vida e da infância na filosofia de Henri Bergson

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (71) ◽  
pp. 565-580
Author(s):  
Magda Costa Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Dynamic Contact ◽  
The Other ◽  
Henri Bergson ◽  
Key Words Childhood ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
De Se ◽  
Living Nature ◽  
The One ◽  
Élan Vital

Indecisão plena de promessas: imagens da vida e da infância na filosofia de Henri Bergson Resumo: Numa passagem da obra Évolution Créatrice, Bergson recupera a imagem da criança para afirmar que a natureza viva opera através de tendências divergentes. Apesar de não ter desenvolvido um pensamento de pendor educacional, encontram-se na obra bergsoniana referências que, por um lado, recuperam a dimensão criativa e criadora da infância e, por outro, acentuam a forma infantil dos movimentos do élan vital. Estas referências fazem parte da imagética do autor, mostrando como o seu pensamento sugestiona leituras ímpares. O convite para cruzar a imagem da vida como infância com a imagem da infância como vida revela-se, assim, sugestivo para repensar o que nos habita como constitutivamente outro: a criança que fomos e a natureza que somos. E será através da imagem – como forma de contacto dinâmico com o real – que poderemos encontrar algumas respostas para a sugestão bergsoniana de se promover nas escolas um conhecimento infantil (enfantin).Palavras-chave: infância; criança; natureza; imagem; Bergson. Indecision charged with promise: Images of life and childhood in Henri Bergson’s philosophy Abstract: In a passage in his Évolution Créatrice, Bergson reclaims the image of the child to argue that living nature works through divergent tendencies. Although Bergson’s work doesn’t focus specifically on education, it does contain references that, on the one hand, reclaim the creative and creating nature of childhood, while on the other hand accentuating the childlike nature of élan vital’s movements (vital impetus). These references are part of Bergson’s repertoire of imagery and demonstrate how his thought evokes uneven readings. The invitation to cross the image of life as childhood with that of childhood as life ultimately evokes a rethinking of what inhabits us as constitutively other: the child we were and the nature we are. And it is through the notion of image – as a form of dynamic contact with reality – that we will find some answers for Bergson’s suggestion that schools promote a childlike knowledge (enfantin).Key-words: childhood; child; nature; image; Bergson.  Indecisión cargada de promesas: Imagénes de la vida y de la infancia en la filosofía de Henri Bergson Resumen: En un pasaje sobre la obra Évolution Créatrice, Bergson recupera la imagen del niño para afirmar que la naturaleza viva opera a través de tendencias divergentes. A pesar de no haber desarrollado un pensamiento de carácter educacional, se encuentran en la obra bergsoniana referencias que, por un lado, recuperan la dimensión creativa y creadora de la infancia y, por otro, acentúan la forma infantil de los movimientos del impulso vital. Estas referencias hacen parte de la imagen del autor, mostrando como su pensamiento sugestiona lecturas impares. O convite para cruzar la imagen de la vida como infancia con la imagen de la infancia como vida se revela, de esta manera, sugestivo para repensar lo que nos habita como constitutivamente otro: el niño que fuimos y la naturaleza que somos. Y será a través de la imagen – como forma de contacto dinámico con lo real – que podremos encontrar algunas respuestas para la sugestión bergsoniana de promoverse en las escuelas un conocimiento infantil (enfantin).Palavras-clave: infancia; niño; naturaleza; imagen; Bergson. Data de registro: 20/08/2020Data de aceite: 30/11/2020

All Boundaries Are Lost: Travel, Fragmentation and Interconnection in Virginia Woolf

2016 ◽  
pp. 105-132
Author(s):  
Sam Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Virginia Woolf ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Rural Landscapes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Between The Acts ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
A Site

Woolf’s childhood was characterised by contrasts between urban and rural, movement and belonging, past and future, domesticity and the outdoor landscape. These influences are evident in her work’s balance between nostalgic reflection and an acceptance of the inexorable transience of human existence and sensation. Woolf is interested in the ways in which new developments in travel and technology can defamiliarise us, and reveal interconnections with other beings. Her attentiveness to the sedimentary layering of the past within rural landscapes is applied to her reimagining of the urban environment; Woolf inverts urban-rural associations, and portrays the metropolitan world as a site within which both fragmentation and interconnection are made explicit. That sense of interconnection also extends to nonhuman animals in Between the Acts (1941). Ultimately, this portrayal of a world in which all experience and activity is part of a ‘work of art’ underlies the theme of unity in Woolf’s final novel; but that theme nonetheless remains balanced by the novel’s exploration of dispersal and fragmentation.

Questioning the Presence of the Past

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-91
Author(s):  
Thomas Kriza
Keyword(s):  
Michel Foucault ◽  
World View ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Spiritual Exercises ◽  
Existential Meaning ◽  
The Past ◽  
Truth Claim ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
Pierre Hadot

Abstract This paper questions the contemporary turn towards horizons of existential meaning going back to antiquity especially in the shape of a turn to religion by pointing to crucial differences between antique conceptions of thought and their modern revivals. Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault interpret antique thought as spiritual exercises to perfect human existence, exposing an inherent existential relevance and connection to a peculiar conception of truth. I argue that because of these ties to a truth claim deeply alien to the modern scientific world-view, antique horizons of existential meaning cannot be revived within modern frames of thought. Their contemporary presence is more likely the expression of the deeply ambivalent modern relationship to premodern horizons of existential meaning, rather than a genuine revival.

La différence sexuelle chez les Grecs

1998 ◽  
pp. 75-82
Author(s):  
Vigdis Songe-Møller
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Sexual Difference ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Human Vulnerability ◽  
Greek Thought ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
European Thought ◽  
Platonic Tradition

I want to look at two contrasting ways of seeing the relation between the sexes within ancient Greek thought by dividing Greek thought into two main traditions: the Platonic tradition from Parmenides through Plato to Aristotle, and what one might call 'the tragic tradition' including thinkers such as Anaximander, Heraclitus, and Empedocles. The Platonic tradition is characterized by hierarchical thinking in which the norm is unity, harmony and self-sufficiency. In Plato, this turns out to be the norm also for human existence, with the result that there is no room in his philosophy for thinking of sexual difference and sexual reproduction. When, on the other hand, conflicts, discord, and human vulnerability towards misfortune and death are looked upon as the constitutive elements of life-as with the tragic poets-sexual difference also plays an important part. When human existence is treated as something radically different from divinity, the Greek thinkers-in this paper exemplified by Empedocles and the tragic poets-tend to look upon sexual difference as a constitutive element in human existence. For the philosophers in this tradition, all being is constituted by two oppositional elements which do not form a hierarchy but rather an inimical antagonism. Misogyny is perhaps as strong in this 'tragic' tradition as it is in the Platonic-Aristotelian one. However, even if the former tradition has at least provided some space for thinking of sexual difference, it has not been very influential in western, European thought.

Tradition and Scripture

1967 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 323-337
Author(s):  
C. F. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Human Existence ◽  
The Past ◽  
Social Time

Tradition in either of its two senses—the act of handing on (generally verbally), and what is handed on—is a particular instance of a law of human existence that men live in dependence on one another and by the processes of giving and receiving. So a sociologist can write, ‘If we are able to speak of real tradition, we must find the past spontaneously taken into account as the meaning of the present, without any discontinuity of social time, and without any consideration of the past as irrelevant’ (M. Dufrenne, quoted by P. Congar, Tradition and Traditions, p. 264, n. 1). ‘If democracy’, wrote Chesterton, ‘means that I give a man a vote even though he is my chauffeur, tradition means that I give a man a vote even though he is my great-great-grandfather’. What is handed on, however, is not existence of a purely biological kind, to remain always what it has been or to change very slowly over a space of aeons. Except in primitive tribes even tradition is not simply passed on as something static and timeless, and it is received by men who, though themselves in time, are not totally time-bound or restricted by what they receive. They believe themselves to be capable of significant action which is more than the repetition and reproduction of what has gone before. They are able to grasp a span of time and to call it history; they believe themselves to have a history, and they write history.

Bursting the Bubble: A Case of Secondary Infertility

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (03) ◽  
pp. 179-182
Author(s):  
Parul Wadhwani ◽  
Soma Sharma ◽  
Gyanda Wadhwani
Keyword(s):  
Single Dose ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Secondary Infertility ◽  
Homeopathic Treatment ◽  
Homeopathic Remedy ◽  
Pooled Data ◽  
The Past

AbstractInfertility has been a major medical and social preoccupation since the dawn of human existence and women have always been the symbol of fertility. A 34-year-old woman presented with inability to conceive for the past 2.5 years. A single dose of indicated homeopathic remedy helped her conceive during the following month. In contrast with the fertility specialists, homeopathic treatment addresses the entire underlying bio–psycho–social dimension under a single roof. Publication of a collective pooled data may help us establish this beyond doubt, for the benefit of incomplete families!

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