Life and Time: Bergson and the Life Sciences

In Creative Evolution (1911 [1907]) Henri Bergson discusses the distinction between the living, biotic, and the non-living, abiotic world. The study touched directly upon several of the key developments of his age in biology. Notably evolution theory played a crucial role in his philosophy. In the historical context of the turn of the century, the debate between religious readings of the origin of life and evolution theory had far from quieted down. Evolution theory continued to be seen as controversial due to its negation of the story of the origin of species as it was laid down in Genesis. Biological vitalism appeared to safeguarded the notion of the sanctity of life. Bergson’s vitalism is however of a different nature, preluding views that emerged only decades later, in complex systems theory. This chapter discusses the relevance of Bergson's ideas for the life sciences.