Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / Problem. This thesis represents an attempt to understand and evaluate Bergson's doctrine of intuition, and its use in an intuitive method. Various definitions of intuition, along with a continual re-amplification of possible meanings, are scattered throughout most of Bergson's works. There are times when contradictions appear to occur. Therefore, the first goal of this thesis is an attempt to fit all of the possible meanings of intuition into a coherent scheme . In addition, for Bergson, the use of intuition implies a method, and, therefore, the second goal of this thesis is an attempt to determine of what value Bergson's intuitional method is to philosophy. The adequacy of Bergson's intuitive method is contingent upon an adequate development of intuition and a fair critique of the limitations of the intellectual faculty. Therefore, Bergson's critique of the intellect is carefully examined. Further, while the object of intuition is duration, duration may be related to the self, to life and to matter. This thesis considers the use of intuition in these three realms. The intuition of the self. For Bergson, an intellectualist view of the self can only lead to its fragmentation. On the one hand, and particularly in An Introduction to Metaphysics, the intuition of the self appears to be a return to a felt immediacy of experience, an immediacy prior to intellection, prior to analysis. On the other hand, near the conclusion of that same work, Bergson notes that the intuition of the self can arise only after painstaking analysis. These two apparently conflicting views of intuition are strains that weave through most of Bergson's works. [truncated]

No description available.

[No abstract available] / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

Henri Bergson utilise régulièrement les arts pour illustrer sa méthode philosophique. Pourtant, il n'a jamais théorisé l'expérience artistique pour elle-même, et nous croyons que ses idées esthétiques méritent une recherche approfondie. Plus précisément, nous croyons que la littérature offre une porte d'entrée paradigmatique dans la recherche esthétique bergsonienne. Connaissant la minutie de son travail de rédaction, il nous semble important de s'attarder sur ce que lire signifie pour lui, car son style poétique constitue non seulement notre meilleur accès à sa pensée, mais en plus il participe à former notre expérience de cette pensée. Ce mémoire se veut donc une étude des idées esthétiques de Bergson, en centrant notre recherche sur la lecture. Dans un premier temps, nous proposerons une définition de l'acte de lecture à partir des concepts bergsoniens de la durée, de la mémoire, et de l'attention. Nous trouverons ainsi que la lecture serait d'abord une expérience de sympathie avec l'intuition de l'artiste. Cela nous mènera au deuxième moment de notre recherche, qui cherchera à définir l'intuition artistique. Nous explorerons ainsi le paysage interprétatif de ce concept polysémique, qui révèlera un conflit entre deux interprétations, l'une qui comprend l'intuition comme une connaissance sur le monde, l'autre qui la comprend comme une création de nouveauté. Cependant, nous trouverons que l'intuition artistique correspondrait à un vécu émotif dans le flux de la conscience, et en en ce sens elle serait les deux à la fois. Enfin, nous étudierons l'œuvre d'art, afin de comprendre comment l'intuition artistique se communique de l'artiste à la personne lectrice. Cette dernière étape révèlera que l'œuvre d'art possèderait un statut ontologique unique, c'est-à-dire qu'elle serait un lieu de rencontre entre deux consciences, celle de l'artiste et celle de la lectrice, et cette rencontre serait l'occasion d'une transmission de l'élan créateur à la source de l'intuition artistique. / Arts and literature are among Henri Bergson's most frequent examples to illustrate his philosophical method. However, Bergson never theorised the artistic experience in itself. His aesthetic ideas, however, deserve thorough research. Specifically, literature provides a paradigmatic point of entry in bergsonian aesthetic research. Knowing how meticulous his writing process was, it is important to understand what reading means for him, because not only does his poetic style constitute our best access to his philosophy, but it actively forms our experience of his ideas. This dissertation is thus a study of Bergson's aesthetic ideas. First, I will present a definition of the act of reading, drawing on the bergsonian concepts of durée, memory and attention. We will see that reading is essentially an experience of sympathy with artistic intuition at the origin of the work of art. This will lead us to the second part, where I will attempt to give a definition of the concept of artistic intuition in Bergson's thought. To this end, I explore the existing interpretations of this polysemous concept, thus revealing a conflict between two positions: one that understands artistic intuition as a form of knowledge of the world, the other that understands it as a creation of novelty. However, artistic intuition corresponds with an emotional experience in the lived flux of the consciousness and is thus both at once. Finally, I examine the concept of a work of art, to understand how artistic intuition is conveyed from the artist to the reader. I show that works of art hold a unique ontological status, that is a meeting point between two consciousnesses, the artist's and the reader's, and that this meeting is a prolonging of the creative élan at the origin of artistic intuition.

No description available.

Thèse complémentaire--Lettres--Paris, 1952. / Bibliogr. f. 180-186. - Ex. dactylographié.

Thèse d'université--Lettres--Paris, 1950. / Bibliogr. f. I-VI. - Ex. dactylographié.

Inaug. Diss.--Breslau. / Vita. Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Madras.

Diss.--Bielefeld, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 326-336. Index.