Freedom

Lectures at the Collège de France, 1904–1905

Freedom cover

Freedom

Lectures at the Collège de France, 1904–1905

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Description

For 15 years, Henri Bergson, the most important French philosopher of the early 20th-century, taught at the Collège de France. Speaking without notes, most of his classes are now lost to history, but records of a handful of courses fortuitously survived thanks to stenographic transcripts. Conveying Bergson's very voice, these extraordinary documents are finally presented here in English.

The 1904–1905 lectures are dedicated to the topic of freedom, or as Bergson put it, “the evolution of the problem of freedom.” Building on the philosophy of freedom from his first book, Time and Free Will, he proposes that freedom is not only a fundamental human experience but characteristic of all life as such. By retracing how ancient and modern philosophers have dealt with the delicate question of freedom, Bergson demonstrates the necessity, and also the radically new character, of his own theory of freedom.

Bergson's lectures are a feast for many audiences. For philosophers, they give a fuller picture of his thought and contain deep reflections on many core topics in philosophy today, from the nature of time to the difference between brain and mind, the relation between memory and perception, and the vindication of freedom over determinism. For intellectual historians, the lectures are a treasure trove: as a slice of the living thought of a great thinker; as an extended analysis of the natural and human sciences of his day; and as a rich commentary on the history of ancient and modern philosophy. Finally, for cultural historians and literary scholars, the lectures were the cultural capital of Belle Époque France, consumed by elites and a vast educated public. They are also part of an exceedingly rare genre in modern philosophy: spoken, not written, lectures and expressed as a veritable stream of philosophical consciousness that is remarkably structured and analytically lucid.

Table of Contents

Series Preface: Henri Bergson at the Collège de France
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Henri Bergson, Freedomist

1. December 6, 1904
2. December 16, 1904
3. December 22, 1904
4. January 13, 1905
5. January 20, 1905
6. January 27, 1905
7. February 3, 1905
8. February 10, 1905
9. February 17, 1905
10. February 24, 1905
11. March 3, 1905
12. March 10, 1905
13. March 17, 1905
14. March 24, 1905
15. March 31, 1905
16. April 7, 1905
17. April 14, 1905
18. May 5, 1905
19. May 12, 1905
20. May 19, 1905

Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography

Product details

Published 30 May 2024
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 288
ISBN 9781350029163
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Henri Bergson

Henri Bergson (1859-1941) was one of the most impo…

Anthology Editor

Nils F. Schott

Nils F. Schott teaches philosophy in the Euro-Amer…

Anthology Editor

Alexandre Lefebvre

Alexandre Lefebvre is Professor of Politics and Ph…

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