2

It's claimed that Bergson's "intuition of pure duration" is the "highest and most valuable form of human experience": is this an individualist or collectivist good?

I'm asking because I'm interested in the idea of cultural vitality, which is often I think considered a fascistic response to decadence. Especially how it might differ from how 'flourishing' appears in philosophical literature.

I thought maybe Bergson would could help me figure whether 'cultural vitality' is reasonable. Partly because Bergsonianism gets the ball rolling in Adorno's Negative Dialectics, and partly because he, along with the socialist proponent of violence Sorel, was important in forming the irrational (practice without theory) tendencies in the (often fascistic) historical avant garde.

More generally, how does Bergson, 'vitality' and 'flourishing' fit within Marxism?

  • 1
    Excellent to work decadence in the question because this is exactly where we are now, it always comes when extreme differences in wealth occur. Here is Ravel, La Valse, at the ending of an age https://www.jstor.org/stable/1845864?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents The Waltz https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg2i2NB-i3o – Gordon Jul 24 '19 at 22:38
  • @Gordon thanks... as to the rest of it, i think flourishing (in culture) is best left for others, whereas we should be concerned with our OWN vitality... this was born of intuition (interaction) rather than reading, though, so i won't quote! –  Jul 24 '19 at 22:43
  • 1
    that's cool @Gordon i'm an ***perennial* optimist** (tho)... read you later! –  Jul 24 '19 at 23:15
  • i just mean that while geopolitical war and violence can end humanism, that is the **only** risk to the class "for itself" (imvho) –  Jul 24 '19 at 23:27
  • did the working class really not learn from the 20th century, though? fwiw -- i think trump got himself into power... –  Jul 24 '19 at 23:28
  • 1
    I had too many comments, so I removed them. If we had free form Vitalism today, it would probably accelerate the introduction of Authoritarian capitalism. I think you see the problem with your very last question. – Gordon Jul 25 '19 at 00:59
  • With a relatively passive populace, it is just so easy to invite "Father-authority" in to create a false but soothing narrative, and it seems clear to me that is where we are going, sadly. Authoritative capitalism won't work for long, and it will probably end up with barbarism. But as I said before, I am weak on Bergson. Ortega may have some interesting ideas, but he was introducing his philosophy of life into a very sleepy Spain. Any Vitalism today would not be allowed to be free, and could well end up controlled and channeled under Fascism. – Gordon Jul 25 '19 at 01:05
  • Btw your word "vitality" is much better than my use of Vitalism. I have never read Negative Dialectics, I am sure it is difficult, but you have gotten me interested again. – Gordon Jul 25 '19 at 02:43

0 Answers0