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Living consciousness : the metaphysical vision of Henri Bergson / G. William Barnard.
Van Pelt Library B2430.B43 B26 2011
By Request
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Barnard, G. William (George William), 1955-
- Series:
- SUNY series in transpersonal and humanistic psychology
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Bergson, Henri, 1859-1941.
- Bergson, Henri.
- Metaphysics.
- Consciousness.
- Philosophy, Modern.
- Physical Description:
- xxxvii, 342 pages ; 24 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- Albany : State University of New York Press, 2011.
- Summary:
- Living Consciousness examines the brilliant, but now largely ignored, insights of French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941). Presenting a detailed and accessible analysis of Bergson's thought, G. William Barnard highlights how Bergson's understanding of the nature of consciousness and, in particular, its relationship to the physical world remain strikingly relevant to numerous contemporary fields. These range from quantum physics and process thought to philosophy of mind, depth psychology, transpersonal theory, and religious studies. Bergson's notion of consciousness as a ceaselessly dynamic, inherently temporal substance of reality itself provides a vision that can function as a persuasive alternative to mechanistic and reductionistic understandings of consciousness and reality. Throughout the work, Barnard offers "ruminations" or neo-Bergsonian responses to a series of vitally important questions such as: What does it mean to live consciously, authentically, and attuned to our inner depths? Is there a philosophically sophisticated way to claim that the survival of consciousness after physical death is not only possible but likely? Book jacket.
- Contents:
- Section 1 Explorations of consciousness, authenticity, time, and freedom
- Chapter 1 The nature of consciousness 3
- Questioning and Experiencing Consciousness 3
- Enduring Duree 6
- Struggling with Immediacy 7
- Carving Up the World 10
- An "Object"-tive Understanding of Ourselves 12
- Language and Durée 13
- The Paradox of Durée 14
- Chapter 2 Authenticity 18
- The Superficial Self and the Deep Self 18
- Rumination: Authentic Selfhood 21
- Chapter 3 Time 28
- Duree as Time 28
- Rumination: Consciousness as Time 30
- Chapter 4 Quantity and Quality 33
- Do Our Feelings Measure Up? 33
- Chapter 5 Determinism 38
- Physical Determinism 38
- A Historical Interlude: Predeterminism 40
- Psychological Determinism 44
- Chapter 6 Alternative Understandings Of The Self 46
- Associationist Ideas of the Self 46
- A Substantially Flowing Self 41
- Chapter 7 Freedom 51
- Duree: Ever-New 51
- Arguing for Free Will 54
- Freedom: An Immediate Fact 57
- A Little Hard-Core Common Sense 59
- Degrees of Freedom 61
- Liminal Section: The Dynamism of Matter
- Chapter 8 The world "out there" 71
- Playing with the Space In-Between 71
- Splitting Up the World 72
- Chapter 9 Movement 73
- Motion as a Whole 73
- Moving from One Point to Another 14
- Catching Up with Zeno 16
- Chapter 10 An Atomistic Understanding of Reality 78
- Unchanging Atoms or Universal Flux? 78
- Mini-Rumination: Porous Bodies 79
- Chapter 11 Going Beyond Classical Physics 82
- Beyond Mechanism 82
- Contra Atomism 83
- Bergson Said It First 84
- Chapter 12 Melodies of the Self and the World 88
- Matter as Melody 88
- A Flowing Identity 92
- Rumination: The "Both/And" Perspective of Bergson 95
- Section 2 The Matter of consciousness and the consciousness of matter
- Chapter 13 contemporary understandings of consciousness 105
- Remembering Matter and Memory 105
- Becoming Conscious of Consciousness 106
- Theories of Consciousness: Dualism 107
- Theories of Consciousness: Epiphenomenalism 108
- Theories of Consciousness: Materialism 109
- A Problem for Materialism: The Unity of Consciousness 111
- An Evolutionary Problem: When Did Consciousness Arise? 113
- Contemporary Theorists-Various "Camps" 116
- One Solution to the "Hard Problem": Panpsychism 117
- Why Is Panpsychism So Often Dismissed or Ignored? 118
- Chapter 14 Images Of The Universe 121
- Making Consciousness Matter 121
- Material Images 123
- A Conscious Universe 123
- The Creation of Perceptions 125
- Rumination: Opening Ourselves to the Whole 126
- Chapter 15 Nonlocality And Bergson's Universe Of Images 130
- Bell's Theorem and Nonlocality 130
- Nonlocality and the Work of David Bohm 133
- Chapter 16 Perceptions And The Brain 137
- Pure Perceptions 137
- Perceptions and the Physical Body 138
- Relationships between the Brain and Consciousness 140
- Understanding the Relationship between the Brain and Consciousness 141
- The Brains Role in Pure Perception 142
- Chapter 17 The Interaction Of Perception And Memory 145
- Pure Perceptions and "Primal" Memory 145
- Pure Perceptions and Two Basic Forms of Memory 146
- Rumination: Cappadocia, Turkey, 2004 148
- Chapter 18 Moving From Perception To Memory 151
- The Differences between Memory and Perception 151
- Two Types of Memories 152
- Chapter 19 The Interweaving Of Recollection Memory And Habit Memory 155
- The Cone of Memory and the Plane of Perception 155
- Planes of Consciousness 156
- Complete Perception 159
- Chapter 20 Ruminations On The Hidden Power Of Memory 162
- Rumination, Part One: Psychic Cysts and Distorted Perceptions 162
- Rumination, Part Two: Freeing Ourselves, Creating New Worlds 168
- Chapter 21 The Presence Of The Present 173
- The Presence of the Past and the Future of Presence 173
- The Character of Our Present, the Presence of Our Character 175
- Attending to the Present 175
- Mini-Rumination: Living in the Now 177
- The Indivisibility of Memory 177
- Chapter 22 Memory And The Brain 180
- Where, Oh Where Are Our Memories Stored? 180
- Experimental Attempts to Find Memories in the Brain 181
- Philosophical Problems with the Memory Trace Theory 184
- Brain Injury and Memory: Bergsons Perspective 187
- Brain Injury and Memory: Current Understandings 190
- Chapter 23 Mind And Matter As Different Rhythms Of Duree 193
- The Interweaving of Mind and Matter 193
- Quantity and Quality: The Difference Overcome 195
- Rhythms of Duree 196
- Chapter 24 Embodying Memory 199
- Coping with Memory 199
- Rumination: Getting Dreamy and Going on Automatic 200
- Learning Physical Movements 202
- Moving Intuitively 205
- Rumination: Bodily Intuitions 210
- Chapter 25 Becoming Conscious Of The Subconscious 216
- Consciousness and Unconsciousness 216
- Rumination: The Subconscious and Superconsciousness 219
- Chapter 26 Recollection Memory, Dreams, And The Élan Vital 224
- Bergsons Ambivalence Toward Recollection Memory 224
- Recollection Memory and Bergsons Theory of Dreams 227
- The Creativity of Dreams 229
- Time and Dreams 231
- Dreams, "Virtual" Memory and the Elan Vital 233
- Chapter 27 Bergson And Non-Ordinary Experiences 237
- Rumination: A Neo-Bergsonian Understanding of
- Non-Ordinary Experiences 237
- Bergsons Participation in "Psychical Research" 249
- "Phantasms of the Living' and Psychical Research" 252
- Chapter 28 Bergson And The Afterlife 257
- Bergson and the Survival of Consciousness after the Death of the Physical Body 257
- Rumination: Neo-Bergsonian Glimpses of the Afterlife 259
- Some Final Words 269.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 9781438439570
- 1438439571
- OCLC:
- 705568167
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