Abstract
Bergson’s account of moral obligation in terms of his doctrine of evolution was only the beginning of his treatment of morality. In tracing obligation back to society and beyond society to the life force itself, he was reducing it to a biological necessity, yet he was at the same time preparing the ground for the examination of a superior kind of morality and for a final explanation of all morality as originating in the ultimate creative principle of life and all its manifestations.
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References
The Two Sources, pp. 47–48 (O. 1022).
Ibid., pp. 22–25, 264–75 (O. 1000–03, 1209–19).
Ibid., p. 24 (O. toot).
Ibid., pp. 272–74 (O. 1216–17). Bergson attributes this fault in human nature to the defective conditions existing on our planet, perhaps a lack of carbon, “qui a contraint les hommes à s’entredévorer.” See Jacques Chevalier, Entretiens avec Bergson, p. 53.
Ibid., pp. 29, 274 (O. 1006, 1218).
Ibid., p. 257 (O. 1203).
Ibid., pp. 47–48. 255 (O. 1022, 1201–02).
Ibid., pp. 255–56 (O. 1202 ). Static religion, like closed morality, is a product of nature and rooted in biological necessity. See Chapter II of The Two Sources which is devoted to this subject.
Ibid., p. 27 (1004).
Ibid., p. 86 (O. 1055–56).
Ibid., pp. 24–25, 27–28 (O. 1001–02, 1004–05).
Ibid., pp. 25–26 (O. 1003–04).
Ibid., p. 26 (O. 5003). Bergson’s moral hero is not a moralist but an individual who sets an example. See Henri Gouhier, Bergson et le Christ des Évangiles (Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1961), pp. 134–44. especially P. 137.
Ibid., p. 31 (O. 1007–08). According to Bergson intellect is incapable of directly influencing the will. We shall see the implications of this position when we come to consider the role of intellect in the moral life.
Ibid., DP. 209, 252 (O. 1162, 1200 ).
Jacques Chevalier, Entretiens avec Bergson, pp. 152, 155, 157, 301. Besides revealing the source of moral progress, mysticism can help us solve such problems as the existence of God, the creation of the world, and the survival of the soul. See The Two Sources, pp. 262ff (O. 1185ff) and pp. 278ff (O. 1198ff).
The Two Sources, pp. 86, 89–9o, 222–25, 240–41 (O. 1056, 1059–60, 1173–76, 1189–90).
Ibid., pp. 42–46 (O. 1017–20).
Ibid., pp. 86–87 (O. 1056).
Ibid., PP. 25, 46 (O. 1002, 1021 ).
Ibid., P. 74 (O. 1045 ).
Ibid., p, 85 (O. 1055).
Ibid., pp. 55–56. 73–75 (O. 1028–29, 1044–46).
Ibid., p. 87 (O. 1056 ). See E. I. Watkin, “The Philosophy of Henri Bergson,” The Dublin Review, CCIX (July, 194,), Pp. 12–13.
Ibid., pp. 71, 160 (O. 1042–43, 1120).
Ibid., p. 67 (O. 1039).
Ibid., p. 64 (O. 1036).
Ibid., pp. 63, 71–2 (O. 1035–36, 1042).
Ibid., pp. 42–45 (0 1018–20).
Ibid., Pp. 44–46 (O. 1019–21).
Ibid., p. 86 (O. 3056). See also pp. 202, 257 (O. 1156, 1203 ).
Ibid., pp. 209, 252 (O. I162, 1200).
Ibid., p. 86 (O. 1056).
Ibid., pp. 86–87, 223–25 (O. 1057, 1174–76).
Ibid., p. 222 (O. 1173).
Ibid., p. 243 (O. 1192 ). Bergson tells us that he is going beyond Creative Evolution here. Ibid., P. 244 (O. 1193).
Creative Evolution, D. 248 (O. 706); The Two Sources pp. 244–46 (O. 1193–94).
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Gallagher, I.J. (1970). Static and Dynamic Morality. In: Morality in Evolution. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7573-7_6
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