It is the more impressive inasmuch as Bergson cannot be said to be an
easy author. The originality and sweep of his conceptions, the fine and
delicate psychological analysis in which he is so adept and which is
necessary for the development of his ideas--e.g., in his exposition
of duree--make exacting demands upon those readers who wish to closely
follow his thought. An interesting fact is that this is realized most
of all by those who come to Bergson with a long process of philosophical
discipline behind them. It is not surprising when we remember what he
is trying to do, namely, to induce philosophical thought to run in
new channels. The general reader has here an advantage over the other,
inasmuch as he has less to unlearn. In the old words, unless we become
as little children we cannot enter into this kingdom; though it is true
that we do not remain as little children once entry is made. This is a
serious difficulty for the hard-bitten philosopher who at considerable
pains has formed conceptions, acquired a technique, and taken an
orientation towards life and the universe which he cannot dismiss in
a moment. It says much for the charitable spirit of Bergson's
fellow-philosophers that they have given so friendly and hospitable a
reception to his disturbing ideas, and so essentially humane a man as
he must have been touched by this. The Bahnbrecher has his troubles,
no doubt, but so also have those upon whose minds he is endeavouring to
operate. Reinhold, one of Kant's earliest disciples, ruefully stated,
according to Schopenhauer's story, that it was only after having gone
through the Critique of Pure Reason five times with the closest and
most scrupulous attention that he was able to get a grasp of Kant's real
meaning. Now, after the lapse of a century and a half, Kant to many is
child's play compared with Bergson, who differs more fundamentally from
Kant than the Scoto-German thinker did from Leibniz and Hume. But this
need not alarm the general reader who, innocent of any very articulate
philosophical preconceptions, may indeed find in the very "novelty" of
Bergson's teaching a powerful attraction, inasmuch as it gives effective
expression to thoughts and tendencies moving dimly and half-formed in
the consciousness of our own epoch, felt rather than thought. In this
sense Bergson may be said to have produced a "philosophy for the times."
In one respect Bergson has a marked advantage over Kant, and indeed over
most other philosophers, namely, in his recognized masterly control over
the instrument of language. There is a minimum of jargon, nothing
turgid or crabbed. He reminds us most, in the skill and charm of his
expression, of Plato and Berkeley among the philosophers. He does not
work with so fine and biting a point as his distinguished countryman and
fellow-philosopher, Anatole France, but he has, nevertheless, a burin
at command of remarkable quality. He is a master of the succinct and
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