Vol. 12 No. 1 (2024): Henri Bergson. L’evoluzione creatrice e la filosofia della vita / Henri Bergson. Creative Evolution and Philosophy of Life
The publication of Henri Bergson's L'Évolution créatrice in 1907 marked a pivotal moment in cultural history. The work was an immediate and overwhelming success, transcending the boundaries of academic philosophy and propelling Bergson to widespread fame. The title itself, placing the concepts of 'evolution' and 'creation' side by side, signalled Bergson's departure from both traditional metaphysics – fixated on an abstract and unchanging ideal being – and prevailing evolutionary theories, which emphasised predetermined adaptation. For Bergson, "creation" remains in stark contrast to mere "fabrication". The latter presupposes the existence of pre-constituted data of reality that are subsequently composed on the basis of norms that are also pre-constituted. By contrast, creation implies that nothing is ever already given: not even the possible, if understood – in the manner of Aristotle, Bergson's great polemical target – as something already destined for the act. So much so that, instead of 'possible', Bergson uses the term 'virtual', a term that alludes to a dimension that never exists and yet is the only place from which a real is born, and with it the possible that will be retrospectively assigned to it. L'Évolution créatrice opened up a radically new perspective that we can only fully grasp today with advances such as those achieved by neo-evolutionism. Hence the idea of devoting this issue to this work.
Published:
2024-05-20
