Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of ConsciousnessBergson, Henri
Philosophy
Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness
Bergson, Henri
Consciousness; Free will and determinism; Space and time
find ourselves confronted by a confused multiplicity of sensations
and feelings which analysis alone can distinguish. Their number is
identical with the number of the moments which we take up when we count
them; but these moments, as they can be added to one another, are
again points in space. Our final conclusion, therefore, is that there
are two kinds of multiplicity: that of material objects, to which the
conception of number is immediately applicable; and the multiplicity of
states of consciousness, which cannot be regarded as numerical without
the help of some symbolical representation, in which a necessary
element is _space._
[Sidenote: The impenetrability of matter is not a physical but a
logical necessity.]
As a matter of fact, each of us makes a distinction between these two
kinds of multiplicity whenever he speaks of the impenetrability of
matter. We sometimes set up impenetrability as a fundamental property
of bodies, known in the same way and put on the same level as e.g.
weight or resistance. But a purely negative property of this kind
cannot be revealed by our senses; indeed, certain experiments in
mixing and combining things might lead us to call it in question if
our minds were not already made up on the point. Try to picture one
body penetrating another: you will at once assume that there are empty
spaces in the one which will be occupied by the particles of the other;
these particles in their turn cannot penetrate one another unless one
of them divides in order to fill up the interstices of the other; and
our thought will prolong this operation indefinitely in preference to
picturing two bodies in the same place. Now, if impenetrability were
really a quality of matter which was known by the senses, it is not at
all clear why we should experience more difficulty in conceiving two
bodies merging into one another than a surface devoid of resistance
or a weightless fluid. In reality, it is not a physical but a logical
necessity which attaches to the proposition: "Two bodies cannot occupy
the same place at the same time" The contrary assertion involves an
absurdity which no conceivable experience could succeed in dispelling.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account