The Library
Morality and the philosophy of life in Guyau and Bergson
Tools
Tools
Tools
Ansell-Pearson, Keith (2014) Morality and the philosophy of life in Guyau and Bergson. Continental Philosophy Review, 47 (1). pp. 59-85. doi:10.1007/s11007-014-9288-y
|
PDF
WRAP_9370416-ph-161015-guyau_and_bergson_cpr_final_version (1).pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (647Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11007-014-9288-y
Abstract
In this essay I examine the contribution a philosophy of life is able to make to our understanding of morality, including our appreciation of its evolution or development and its future. I focus on two contributions, namely, those of Jean-Marie Guyau and Henri Bergson. In the case of Guyau I show that he pioneers the naturalistic study of morality through a conception of life; for him the moral progress of humanity is bound up with an increasing sociability, involving both the intensification of life and its expansion. In the case of Bergson I show that he also pioneers a novel naturalistic appreciation of morality, one that is keen to demonstrate morality’s two sources and so as to give us a firm grasp of the chances of a moral progress on the part of humanity. I suggest that of the two appreciations of morality Bergson’s is the richer since it contains a set of critical reflections on humanity’s condition that is lacking in Guyau. I conclude by suggesting that Bergson’s idea that modern humanity is confronted with the decision whether it wishes to continue living or not has lost none of its relevance today.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) | ||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy | ||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Guyau, Jean-Marie, 1854-1888, Bergson, Henri, 1859-1941, Pleasure, Duty, Ethics | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Continental Philosophy Review | ||||||
| Publisher: | Springer | ||||||
| ISSN: | 1387-2842 | ||||||
| Official Date: | March 2014 | ||||||
| Dates: |
|
||||||
| Volume: | 47 | ||||||
| Number: | 1 | ||||||
| Number of Pages: | 17 | ||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 59-85 | ||||||
| DOI: | 10.1007/s11007-014-9288-y | ||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year
