Duke University Press Henri Bergson

Appearing here in English for the first time, Vladimir Jankélévitch's Henri Bergson is one of the two great commentaries written on Henri Bergson. Gilles Deleuze's Bergsonism renewed interest in the great French philosopher but failed to consider Bergson's experiential and religious perspectives. Here Jankélévitch covers all aspects of Bergson's thought, emphasizing the concepts of time and duration, memory, evolution, simplicity, love, and joy. A friend of Bergson's, Jankélévitch first published this book in 1931 and revised it in 1959 to treat Bergson's later works. This unabridged translation of the 1959 edition includes an editor's introduction, which contextualizes and outlines Jankélévitch's reading of Bergson, additional essays on Bergson by Jankélévitch, and Bergson's letters to Jankélévitch. Review "Jankélévitch’s intransigent 'Bergsonism'– his faith in intuition and his distrust in contextualization – produced his marvelous Henri Bergson." Author: Giuseppe Bianco Source: H-France, H-Net Reviews "Jankélévitch's Henri Bergson is richly textured with reflections and digressions which sketch in embryonic form conceptual figures that would gain prominence in his later ethical writings. Jankélévitch's book is thus not so much about Bergson, as it is a book through Bergson, and its two-stroke motion of understanding Bergson and of Jankélévitch understanding himself is animated by a joy that gives Jankélévitch's philosophical prose (finely translated by Nils F. Schott) an almost breathless quality." Author: Nicolas de Warren Source: Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Review "There is no question that Vladimir Jankélévitch’s Henri Bergson is one of the most important books written on Bergson. Equally, there is no question that Deleuze’s book on Bergson is one of most important. However, what distinguishes the two, and what makes Jankélévitch’s book really valuable are the three chapters he added in 1959. These three chapters tell us precisely how to understand Bergson’s ethics (especially the chapter on Bergson and Judaism), and they contain the seeds of Jankélévitch’s own later work. Having such an accurate and scholarly English translation is great. The Introduction, by Alexandre Lefebvre, who is one of our most important Anglophone commentators on Bergson, is illuminating." Author: Leonard Lawlor, Penn State University From the Author Vladimir Jankélévitch (1903-1985) held the chair in moral philosophy at the University of Paris-Sorbonne from 1951 to 1978, and was the author of more than twenty books on philosophy and music. Alexandre Lefebvre is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government and International Relations and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sydney. He is the coeditor of Bergson, Politics, and Religion, also published by Duke University Press. Nils F. Schott is James M. Motley Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University and the translator of several books, including The Helmholtz Curves: Tracing Lost Time, by Henning Schmidgen. About the Author Vladimir Jankélévitch (1903-1985) held the chair in moral philosophy at the University of Paris-Sorbonne from 1951 to 1978, and was the author of more than twenty books on philosophy and music. Alexandre Lefebvre is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government and International Relations and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sydney. He is the coeditor of Bergson, Politics, and Religion, also published by Duke University Press. Nils F. Schott is James M. Motley Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University and the translator of several books, including The Helmholtz Curves: Tracing Lost Time, by Henning Schmidgen.