August 28, 2025 Bergson "Creative Evolution" Overall overview

August 28, 2025 Bergson "Creative Evolution" Overall overview

Er, yes, that's right. I'm talking about creative evolution, and I'm talking about Bergson's "Creative Evolution". There are four chapters in the overall structure, and the third chapter is the conclusion of the whole thing. The various chapters are about looking back on the whole thing, comparing it with existing philosophy and examining where existing philosophy has misunderstood it. If I were to divide the book into two main parts, chapters one through three would be the first part, and chapter four would be the second part.

We are dealing with the process of evolution since we call it "creative evolution," but the position that humans are at the leading edge remains the same. The only difference from the existing human supremacy is that there have been several branches in the course of evolution. You are saying that instead of the Aristotelian "plant->animal->human" linear development, there have been branches in different directions. It is man who has gone through many branches, and how to go further is shown at the end of Chapter 3.

The climax of the book is the contrast between "what is essential and what is accidental in the evolutionary movement of the life process. Put simply, life is "an entity that accumulates and releases energy indeterminately," which leads to the conclusion that there can be life outside of the earth. In other words, from the perspective of energy accumulation and release, galaxies and nebulae themselves are "life-like entities," and the fact that the earth has the conditions for the birth of life is just a kind of accidental process.

It is repeatedly stated that chance plays a major role in evolution. There are aspects that cannot be explained by mechanistic or purposive theories, and in modern terms, they are composed of "random elements. The fact that life on earth has taken this form is also highly accidental. From here, the discussion moves on to the difference between inorganic and organic matter. While inorganic matter can be explained by mechanics, the morphological changes of organic matter cannot be so simply explained. We say this because mathematical frameworks such as probability and entropy were underdeveloped at the time.

Chapter 2 deals with the divergence of animals and plants. We also talk a little about fungi, but in any case, it is said that at the end of the line, we have reached a "state of no more branching". The difference between animals and plants is the "clarity of consciousness. How awake they are is important. Animals have a well-developed nervous system, and as they move, their senses become more acute, and their consciousness awakens more clearly.

Furthermore, in the case of humans, "intuition" is opposed to "intelligence," which allows us to manipulate our memories and create stories at will. Humans create tools and machines and externalize their kinetic mechanisms to free their consciousness. It is taught that directing this margin toward the self and linking intellect and intuition is necessary for further evolution.

Chapter 3 discusses the "bifurcation of instinct and intellect. In animals, instinct and intellect are mixed, but in humans, intellect is strongly divergent. The intellect is the order that emerges as consciousness "rises and falls," the material order in the descent and the creative order, such as art and music, in the ascent. Because man experiences both, he is lonely, and to overcome this he needs to reabsorb the intellect back into his intuition.

Through this effort, humanity is freed from its sense of isolation, and its morals and zest for life are enhanced. This, says the author, is the main reason for philosophizing about "creative evolution. It is astonishing that in an age without entropy or probability theory, he has been able to criticize and systematize the biases of the intellect to this extent.

Chapter 4 discusses "why the illusion arises that evolution can be explained by mechanics and objectivity. Here, the concepts of "nothingness" and "order" are examined, arriving at an idea similar to entropy in modern terms. There is ultimately no such thing as disorder, and order is the result of the movement of consciousness. Furthermore, the philosophies of Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, and others are critically examined to point in the direction of linking intellect and intuition.

Ultimately, Bergson finds the root cause of the ontological crisis in which modern civilization finds itself in the "bias of the intellect" and explains that it can be overcome through a correct understanding of life, intellect, and man.