Henri Bergson was an early 20th century French philosopher of the modernist period. There has been a recent interest in his philosophical work. Creative Evolution (1907) is Bergson's best-known work. Bergson responds to the challenge presented to our habits of thought by modern evolutionary theory. He argues that the theory of knowledge must have its roots in a theory of life. Bergson uses examples from biology to support his ideas, thus not limiting his arguments to purely intellectual concepts. His thesis states that Darwinian evolution is only part of the answer. There is a creative urge in life that defines the direction of evolution. Bergson states that "each organism "wills" its variation in seemingly random fashion, but at a higher order, it produces the regularity of genera."
Anticipating not only modern scientific theories of psychology but also those of cosmology, this astonishing book sets out a impressive goal for itself: to reconcile human biology with a theory of consciousness. First published in France in 1907, and translated into English in 1911, this work of wonder was esteemed at the time in scientific circles and in the popular culture alike for its profound explorations of perception and memory and its surprising conclusions about the nature and value of art.
Contending that intuition is deeper than intellect and that the real consequence of evolution is a mental freedom to grow, to change, to seek and create novelty, Bergson reinvigorated the theory of evolution by refusing to see it as merely mechanistic. His expansion on Darwin remains one of the most original and important philosophical arguments for a scientific inquiry still under fire today.