Overview

During the first quarter of the twentieth century, the French philosopher Henri Bergson became an international celebrity, profoundly influencing contemporary intellectual and artistic currents. While Bergsonism was fashionable, L. Susan Stebbing, Bertrand Russell, Moritz Schlick, and Rudolf Carnap launched different critical attacks against some of Bergson’s views. This book examines this series of critical responses to Bergsonism early in the history of analytic philosophy. Analytic criticisms of Bergsonism were influenced by William James, who saw Bergson as an ‘anti-intellectualist’ ally of American Pragmatism, and Max Scheler, who saw him as a prophet of Lebensphilosophie. Some of the main analytic objections to Bergson are answered in the work of Karin Costelloe-Stephen. Analytic anti-Bergsonism accompanied the earlier refutations of idealism by Russell and Moore, and later influenced the Vienna Circle’s critique of metaphysics. It eventually contributed to the formation of the view that ‘analytic’ philosophy is divided from its ‘continental’ counterpart.

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9783030807573

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“Vrahimis’ book is one of the first to rigorously consider the question of how the identity of analytic philosophy was constructed in relation to its antagonists. … The book is an excellent introduction to the disruptive debates between leading philosophers of the twentieth century, it can easily function as a sourcebook for teaching and can do much to make philosophers review their prejudices concerning other traditions.” (Ties van Gemert, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, March 15, 2023)

“Vrahimis’ book is one of the first to rigorously consider the question of how the identity of analytic philosophy was constructed in relation to its antagonists. … The book is an excellent introduction to the disruptive debates between leading philosophers of the twentieth century, it can easily function as a sourcebook for teaching and can do much to make philosophers review their prejudices concerning other traditions.” (Ties van Gemert, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, March 15, 2023) “Vrahimis uns ein differenzierteres Bild des Entstehungshintergrunds des „Analytic-Continental Divide“ liefert, als dies oftmals in anderen Publikationen geschieht. Seine These, dass der Bergsonismus eine geeignete Kontrastfolie zu der sich etablierenden analytischen Tradition darstellte, ist der Sache nach überzeugend und im Einzelnen gut dokumentiert.” (Matthias Neuber, in: Zeitschrift für philosophische Forschung, Jg. 77, Heft 1, 2023)

Author Information

Andreas Vrahimis works at the Department of Classics and Philosophy, University of Cyprus. His previous works include Encounters between Analytic and Continental Philosophy (2013).

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