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A Topical Review
of
Henri Louis Bergson's

Creative Evolution

(tr. 1910 and prior, Arthur Mitchell, Ph.D., with assistance from William James)

by Doug Renselle
20Sep-20Nov2000

This review was unplanned. It arose from our need to understand Bergson's heterogeneous time.
We need to know his view of time for our review of William James Sidis' The Animate and the Inanimate.

Our review is in a simple side-by-side table format. Direct and extensive quotes from Bergson appear, by page
number in our table's left column. Our comments appear in that table's right side, aligned by page and paragraph.
We provide an index, by topic number, to quoted sections of Bergson's, Creative Evolution.
Each index entry offers Bergson's own topic subtitles.

Doug's Pre-review Comments

Introduction, pp. ix-xv (See Doug's p. ix Will Durant quote and additional comments.)
Chapter I The Evolution of Life—Mechanism and Teleology, p. 1 Chapter III On the Meaning of Life—the Order of Nature, and the Form of Intelligence, p.186
Topic 1 Duration, pp. 1-8 Topic 27 The Method of Philosophy, pp. 186-193
Topic 2 Unorganized Bodies, pp. 9-12 Topic 28 Science and Philosophy, pp. 194-199
Topic 3 Organized Bodies, pp. 13-16 Topic 29 Intellect and Materiality, pp. 200-208
Topic 4 Individuality and Age, pp. 17-24 Topic 30 The Geometrical Order, pp. 209-210
Topic 5 Transformism, pp. 25-28 Topic 31 Geometry and Deduction, pp. 211-213
Topic 6 Biology, Physics, and Chemistry, pp. 29-36 Topic 32 Geometry and Induction, pp. 214-216
Topic 7 Radical Mechanism [Formalism], pp. 37-38 Topic 33 Physical Laws, pp. 217-219
Topic 8 Radical Finalism [one-life, a-w centrism], pp. 39-44 Topic 34 The Idea of Disorder, pp. 220-224
Topic 9 Biology and Philosophy, pp. 45-54 Topic 35 Laws and Genera, pp. 225-231
Topic 10 The Quest of a Criterion, pp. 55-60 Topic 36 The Two Kinds of Order, pp. 232-236
Topic 11 The Choice of an Example, pp. 61-64 Topic 37 Ideal Genesis of Matter, pp. 237-250
Topic 12 See p. 66
15Aug2007 - Doug.		 Insensible Variation, pp. 65-66 Topic 38 The Meaning of Evolution, pp. 251-271
Topic 13 Sudden Variation, pp. 67-68 Chapter IV The Cinematographical Mechanism of Thought and the Mechanistic Illusion—A Glance at the History of Systems—Real Becoming and False Evolutionism, p. 272
Topic 14 Orthogenesis, pp. 69-76 Topic 39

The Idea of 'Nothing,' pp. 272-298

P. 291 crucial reading for students of Quantonics! See very end of comments on subjective negation. See more recent 2004 comments on probability at start of p. 291 comments!

Topic 15 Variation and Heredity, 77-84 Topic 40 Form and Becoming, pp. 299-313
Topic 16 Result of the Discussion, pp. 85-88 Topic 41 Plato and Aristotle, pp. 314-328
Topic 17 The Vital Impetus, pp. 89-97 Topic 42 Modern Science, pp. 329-345
Chapter II The Divergent Directions of the Evolution of Life, Torpor, Intelligence, Instinct, p. 98 Topic 43 Descartes, pp. 346-346
Topic 18 Divergent Tendencies, pp. 98-100 Topic 44 Spinoza and Leibniz, pp. 347-353
Topic 19 Adaptation and Progress, pp. 101-104 Topic 45 Parallelism and Monism, pp. 354-355
Topic 20 The Plant and the Animal, pp. 105-119 Topic 46 The Kantian Criticism, pp. 356-362
Topic 21 Animal Life, pp. 120-126 Topic 47 The Evolutionism of Spencer, pp. 363-370
Topic 22 Development of Animal Life, pp. 127-136
Topic 23 Intelligence and Instinct, pp. 137-154
Topic 24 The Function of the Intellect, pp. 155-165
Topic 25 The Nature of Instinct, pp. 166-176
Topic 26 Life and Consciousness, pp. 177-185

To contact Quantonics write to or call:

Doug Renselle
Quantonics, Inc.
1950 East Greyhound Pass, Ste 18, # 368
Carmel, INdiana 46033-7730
USA
1-317-THOUGHT

©Quantonics, Inc., 2000-2009 — Rev. 15Aug2007  PDR — Created 20Sep2000  PDR
(12Oct2000 rev - Add link to Doug's prereview comments.)
(25Oct2000 rev - Typos.)
(9Nov2000 rev - Add comments to Topic 40 link.)
(20Nov2000 rev - Completion date. Two month effort.)
(23Jan2001 rev - Start notification of topic edits using wingding font red right arrows. Topic 23 major edits.)
(24Jan2001 rev - Topics 40 (big page!) and 41 edits.)
(9Mar2001 rev - Announce 'quantum Zeno phenomenon' changes to topic 40.)
(13Apr2001 rev - Announce p. 276 changes to topic 39.)
(14Dec2001 rev - Add top of page frame-breaker.)
(25Jun2002 rev - Announce p. 291 changes to topic 39.)
(21Jan2003 rev - Announce topic 40 updates.)
(28Jan2003 rev - Add a graphic and comments to topic 40, p. 310.)
(7-11Feb2003 rev - More crucial p. 291 comments on subjective negation.)
(8Oct2003 rev - Highlight Intro. Will Durant quote.)
(26Dec2004 rev - Update topic 39 re: 'probability.')
(7Mar2006 rev - Update Topic 30.)
(13Sep2006 rev - Major updates to topic 39.)
(22Oct2006 rev - Minor update to topic 22.)
(19Feb2007 rev - Update topic 37, p. 248 comments.)
(7May2007 rev - Update topic 42, pp. 331 & 343 comments.)
(15Aug2007 - Update topic 12, p. 66, and reformat.)

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