New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-06-24
Henri Bergson's Essay on Crea-
tive Evolution.

-
fsssor at the College de France Az
fho-i,ed translation by Arthur Mitchell
Pm u. SvO, PIP XIV sOi Henry hoi
& Co.
An insistence on the purely utilitariai
function Of the intellect runs Ike
thread throughout the present volume
and il forms the authors chief contriou-
ton 70 philosophic debate. This was inc
thesis that some three years ago enlisted
the admiring expository aid OF the ia''
Professor William James, whose chaPIei
~ ou,ocv in a Pluralstic Universe
seems 10 have given the signal FOR trans
lating the authors principal works-ohe
on immediate IDEAS. one on matter aho
memory and the highly representative
ESSAY on creative evolution. A phllos-
ONLY so frankly opposing itself TO invet-
crate habits Of the human mind might on
account or its sheer strangeness engage
a passing attention. and when the doc-
,rine is backed with sedulOus argument
beside being made respondent through
vivid and plenteous comparisons inc
total impression is precisely that az
forded in the apparition Of NJ. Bergson' a
professor in the College Of France, who
has been hailed-erroneously. no doubt
as the rising hope Of all who grow weary
IN their minds.
When. according 10 a variant tale
Mime dc stael called on Fichte, in Der
lin. and asked that he should sum up Tor
her his system Of philosophy succinctly
and In French. the scholar is said 70 have
responded. These things do rot allow
az their being said succinctly, least of all
I'm French" From the days Of Plato the
laymans impotence with the dry ana
long virdings Of dialectical reasoning
have been known and understood ana,
let rs hope. forgiven without srudging.
In the book before us it Is no layman'
hut a responsible philosopher al home
with the history % thought and with the
findings of the sciences, who. observing
oar attempts 70 interpret the riddles OF
existence. bids Us despair OF the dialecti-
cal reasoning as q road % absolute truth
and absolute being Nature, for all we
can tell. may ne unity. and nature may
hc capable Of being comprehended in Its
entirety. but such comprehension VIII
never be ours through any power Of alb
stract thought Vherewith we were born.
Formed by an uninterrupted progress
ascending through the vertebrate series
zap to man. the intellect. specifically the
rover 20 perceive relationships, has
arisen with the necessity FOR more and
more precise. complex and supple adap-
tstiOn o. the consciousness Of living
beings 20 the conditions Of existence that
ere made for them. Arising amid def
uite Ci-cunstances 70 act on definite
things especially on solid substances,
where our action finds its fulcrum ana
cur industry its tools, why should logi-
csl thought be expected TO take hold Of
that immense existence OF which it 6
only an emsnatiOn or sn aspect; lf we
demand OF the intellect thst it. compass
the very energies which created 1t. DO We
not cxcmplify so far forth the exag-
gersted confidence Of philosophy in the
powers 81 the human mind? In all con-
ct--us If our practica, life. in our reac-
tions on the material world-that is t.
say in the place where orr intellectual
powers were first fashioned-the intel
lect is our indispensable helper. whereas
IN any effort to gain insight into the llv-
ing order Of the universe the intellect is
81 Improbable servant. Restrict its i'm
rortanco and there are still left wide
fields open 90 its benehcent and proper
operations Abandon hope Of reaching
ultimate reality through the gate o. the
intellectual processes, and, with or
authors assistance, you shall discover a
more excellent way.
Closely linked with the account Of the
genesis and sphere Of intellect are two
main hypothesis With this trinity oi
teachings once understood the readei
point Of view of the essay. The FRS
hypothesis Is that life from rs origin Il
the continuation OF one and the same
vital impetus. divided into divereeu
lines of evolution. Continuity Of chang
preservation Of the past in the present
real duration. inventive cesseless crea
tion-this is the order OF life. By dura
ton is meant the continuous progress o.
the past which bites into the future. a.
ways moving on and charging unccas
ingly with present that is sbsolutel'
new. Our personality, built up each I'm
stsnt With its accumulated experience
changes without ceasing. and each of it
moments is something new added t,
what was before. OF existence in gen
eral. as Of the individual we may sar
that 10 exist is 20 change. % change d
10 mature and 70 mature is TO go OF
creating ones self cndlassly Lilu
Heraclitus, who devoted his melancholl
leisure 10 proving the supreme place O
The law Of change II Bergs0n is az
eminent apostle OF Flux II might seen
that not only the world we reside in bu
the wide universe we're "au a ficetin.
show" Not quite all. since Life, omni
present and changing. itself endures.
Expounding the notion OF an origina
impetus. an internal push that has car
ried life by increasingly complex form
20 higher and higher desunies. Professo
Ssrgson means by progress a continue
advance In the general direction deter
mined by a first impulsion, rather thar
the realization of some plan given in ad
vance Adaptation 10 environment is
necessary condition of evolution. and i
explains the sinuOsities OF evolutionar.
movement. What il is unable 70 explain