New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-05
BELIEVES IN FREE WILL
Professor Bergson Says 1t
Means Moral Health.
CALLS FATALISM APOLOGY
French Philosopher Tells %.
lumbia Students That Men
Thus Excuse Failures.

Professor Henri Bergson, of the College
OF France, gave the second of his lectures
on Liberty and Spirituality" at Have
meyer Hall. Columbia University, yes
terday afternoon.
VIII, IL real, is faculty Of creation"
he said, 'the ability to bring something
new into the world. II does not act BY
composition, as if 1t were putting together
mosaic. but by creation analogous 10
that Of the painter or poet" NJ. Bersson
went on to say that the belief in deter
minism, or the inevitableness OF all
human events, was the result OF the
natural constitution of the human mind.
which. having been developed through
| contact with matter. thought in accord
| ance with the laws OF matter, which were
| those of determinisn or mathematics
Those who deny free will seem to have
all the arguments on their side" he said
Language seems formed TO express that
mathematical relation between cause and
! effect which is the negation Of free will
| But the immediate impression OF common
| sense Is favorable to free will, and We
should study the problem by the light OF
common sense. something which has not
always been done In the past. And com
mon sense teaches us that free will IL
| moral health.
The ancient belief in destiny resulted
| In large part from mans consciousness OF
the obstacles he encountered; destiny
seemed kind OF weight which oppressed
and limited his liberty of action. II was
/ only a step from such a belief 10 one In
the necessity. the inevitableness Of every
act Fear anxiety and regret creep Ike
! microbes into a morally healthy being
and make him believe in destiny, for such
faith excuses his failures Fstalism. in
short, is mans apology for failure. Ne
NAV we'll think, too, that belief In
| destiny has been sometimes accepted be-
cause II fattered mems vanites by mak-
ing them feel the agents OF power
vaster than their own.
The historians Of the last century have
weakened our belief in the free will OF
individuals by intoxicating a theory I'm the
| ruthless necessity which controls the HIS
| tory OF nations. the inevtabeness with
, which they are forced into certain chan
| nels. regardless OF their own aspirations
or the efforts OF statesmen who try to d.
rect them. Here again vanity has created
a theory for its own qualification: II -
pleasanter 10 think that the course Of our
national history. with its mistakes and
crimes and failures. was inevrta BILE, rather
| than to think that We or our fathers could
have changed IL for the better. There are
impossibilities in history, Of course, and
the acute politician does not tilt against
them. but there IL vast field Of posi-
bilities open TO the choice or free will OF
the statesman. And he cannot merely
choose from many possibilities; he can
create new ones. Thus the point OF view
OF free will IN the development OF nations
is truer than that OF determinism or
necessity. We must beware. too Of con-
fusing obstacles in history-such obstacle
as rivers or mountain or seas-with causes
which are. IN the last analysis, human
wills. Such confusion concerning the idea
of cause is at the root of much Of the
current belief IL determnism.
But the fundamental difficulty Of un-
Outstanding free will lies deeper The
human intellect was not made 10 define
It, but TO serve il; IL IL light shining
outward iIlumining the obstacles upon
which the will must act. but leaving the
will itself i'm intenser darkness. Will ex-
ercises itself on matter. with the result
that intellect, whose business IL is to H.
lumine will. thinks in terms OF matter.
and not in terms of life. Let me make
myself more clear. There is a profound
harmony between intellect and matter;
matter is the very source OF necessity-it
allows nothing unforeseeabe, nothing
new, no creation: thus intellect, which
thinks in terms OF matter, is unable 10
think hre-to understand growth OF free
dom, which is the essence of life. Intel
lect can only think Of life in terms OF
necessity; il has been trained on the laws
Of necessity. or. in other words, the laws
OF mathematics. which are the laws by
which alone action can be continuous and
successful. and II uses the habits OF
thought thus acquired in philosophy. The
result has been It's total inability to I'M
derstand the problem of human freedom"