Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #281580 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

Customer Reviews

the best introduction to Bergson's work
This is an excellent review of Bergson's first two major works: "Time and Free Will" and "Matter and Memory". Gerlac almost works through aspects chapter by chapter in each book. She discusses all of the important ideas of Bergson especially duration and the virtual. Reading Bergson is no ordinary journey, its philosophy without the abstract constructs which always seem so artificial and far removed from real experience. Bergson's task was to experience real life as it truly is and write about it without getting bogged down in rigid concepts which remain fixed. This is a very dificult task indeed but somehow he does it. Like others have said once you have read Bergson then nothing remains the same. It is his ability to differentiate between space and time as duration which makes his work something special. Gerlac explores these aspects deeply and amazingly without losing the reader on the way quite unlike Pearson or even Deleuze whose attempt at clarity lead back to abstraction to some degree. In fact it is possible to read Gerlac's book without having read Bergson and then read his books afterwards, this is just about impossible with either Deleuze's "Bergsonism" or Pearson's "Philosophy and the Adventure of the Virtual". Probably the best introduction to Bergson's work I have read even including Herbert Carr's enjoyable books.