Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:08:40.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 4 - Bergson on the True Intellect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2019

Alexandre Lefebvre
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Nils F. Schott
Affiliation:
Collège universitaire de SciencesPo
Get access

Summary

The chapter explores Bergson’s connection of intelligence and invention. Far from dismissing the intellect outright (as many of his readers believe), Bergson carefully distinguishes between the intellect that understands and the intellect that invents - the “true intellect,” which is best understood by way of virtuality. Focusing on the essay “Intellectual Effort” from Mind-Energy, the chapter gives a detailed description of the dynamic schema as a singular, unified, and schematic view of the whole (an intuition) that points in the direction in which the solution to a problem is to be invented. The key aspect is its dynamism, which allows for action and distinguishes the “true” from the “pure” intellect that merely rearranges preexisting images. On the basis of this reading, the essay proposes a definition of the virtual as actualized through the effort of the inventive intellect: the virtual is the production of a new invention (a creation) thanks to the dynamic schema, the force of a problem demanding to be solved (perception), and the memory-images that come in to embody the schema.

Type
Chapter
Information
Interpreting Bergson
Critical Essays
, pp. 67 - 86
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×