Author: Henri BergsonPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Evolution
Languages : en
Pages : 444
Book Description
Creative Evolution
Author: Amit GoswamiPublisher: Quest Books
ISBN: 0835630951
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
By denying evolution altogether, says quantum physicist Amit Goswani, intelligent design believers fly in the face of scientific data. But the idea of intelligent design does contain substance that neo-Darwinists cannot ignore. Goswani posits that consciousness, not matter, is the primary force in the universe. Biology must come to terms with feeling, meaning, and the purposefulness of life, as well as with the idea of a designer. What’s more, reconciling the question of life’s purposefulness and the existence of the designer with neo-Darwinism also answers many other difficult questions. The result is a paradigm shift for biology and the vision of a coherent whole that Goswami calls "science within consciousness." In this timely, important book, the author offers clear arguments supported by the findings of quantum physics that represent a major step in resolving controversies between science and religion.
Author: Henri BergsonCreative Evolution
Author: Henri BergsonPublisher:
ISBN: 9781974686544
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 132
Book Description
Henri Bergson's most vital work, in which he outlines his belief in evolutionary orthogenesis, is presented here complete with the original notes. As a philosopher, Bergson was intrigued by the prospect of purpose in evolution - that distinct species and organisms internally aspire to some end goal as they evolve. To this end he applied a rigorous teleology - an attempt to describe inherent purpose - toward what was, in the early 20th century, the relatively new field of evolutionary science. The result of Bergson's contemplation was Creative Evolution, a treatise which attempts to convince the reader that all life is working towards an end goal. This contrasts the hypothesis of the naturalist Charles Darwin, whose concept of natural selection as the determining force behind the evolution of species was prevalent and built upon by scientists via research. Bergson's thesis, although shared by other intellectuals of the time such as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, was generally rejected by the scientific establishment. The notion that organisms possessed an innate, determinant mechanism for evolving had little scientific basis; the advance of microbiology and evolutionary science since the early 20th century has unearthed no evidence supporting orthogenesis. Despite being discredited by scientists, Creative Evolution remains one of Henri Bergson's most famous works. It held enormous popularity among the public in the early decades of the 20th century, and inspired several modernist authors and intellectuals such as Marcel Proust. Although he argued against the prevailing orthodoxy, Bergson helped to bring evolution to wider attention, encouraging debate on its precise nature. Given the sensitivity of the subject, the translator Arthur Mitchell was especially attentive toward replicating the precise arguments Bergson presented. This edition presents Mitchell's excellent translation in full, that the reader may comprehend the complex arguments and posits of the author.
Author: Steven MithenCreative Evolution
Author: Henri BergsonPublisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1134975686
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 689
Book Description
First published in French in 1907, Henri Bergson’s L’évolution créatrice is a scintillating and radical work by one of the great French philosophers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This outstanding new translation, the first for over a hundred years, brings one of Bergson’s most important and ambitious works to a new generation of readers. A sympathetic though critical reader of Darwin, Bergson argues in Creative Evolution against a mechanistic, reductionist view of evolution. For Bergson, all life emerges from a creative, shared impulse, which he famously terms élan vital and which passes like a current through different organisms and generations over time. Whilst this impulse remains as forms of life diverge and multiply, human life is characterized by a distinctive form of consciousness or intellect. Yet as Bergson brilliantly shows, the intellect’s fragmentary and action- oriented nature, which he likens to the cinematograph, means it alone cannot grasp nature’s creativity and invention over time. A major task of Creative Evolution is to reconcile these two elements. For Bergson, the answer famously lies in intuition, which brings instinct and intellect together and takes us “into the very interior of life.” A work of great rigour and imaginative richness that contributed to Bergson winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1927, Creative Evolution played an important and controversial role in the trajectory of twentieth-century philosophy and continues to create significant discussion and debate. The philosopher and psychologist William James, who admired Bergson’s work, was writing an introduction to the first English translation of the book before his death in 1910. This new translation includes a foreword by Elizabeth Grosz and a helpful translator’s introduction by Donald Landes. Also translated for the first time are additional notes, articles, reviews and letters on the reception of Creative Evolution in biology, mathematics, and theology. This edition includes fascinating commentaries by philosophers Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Georges Canguilhem, and Gilles Deleuze.
Life Finds a Way
Author: Andreas WagnerPublisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 1541645359
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 275
Book Description
How the principles of biological innovation can help us overcome creative challenges in art, business, and science In Life Finds a Way, biologist Andreas Wagner reveals the deep symmetry between innovation in biological evolution and human cultural creativity. Rarely is either a linear climb to perfection--instead, "progress" is typically marked by a sequence of peaks, plateaus, and pitfalls. For instance, in Picasso's forty-some iterations of Guernica, we see the same combination of small steps, incessant reshuffling, and large, almost reckless, leaps that characterize the way evolution transformed a dinosaur's grasping claw into a condor's soaring wing. By understanding these principles, we can also better realize our own creative potential to find new solutions to adversity. Ultimately, Life Finds a Way offers a new framework for the nature of creativity, enabling us to better adapt, grow, and change in art, business, or science--that is, in life.
Bergson
Author: Keith Ansell PearsonPublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350043974
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
A thought-provoking contribution to the renaissance of interest in Bergson, this study brings him to a new generation of readers. Ansell-Pearson contends that there is a Bergsonian revolution, an upheaval in philosophy comparable in significance to those that we are more familiar with, from Kant to Nietzsche and Heidegger, that make up our intellectual modernity. The focus of the text is on Bergson's conception of philosophy as the discipline that seeks to 'think beyond the human condition'. Not that we are caught up in an existential predicament when the appeal is made to think beyond the human condition; rather that restricting philosophy to the human condition fails to appreciate the extent to which we are not simply creatures of habit and automatism, but also organisms involved in a creative evolution of becoming. Ansell-Pearson introduces the work of Bergson and core aspects of his innovative modes of thinking; examines his interest in Epicureanism; explores his interest in the self and in time and memory; presents Bergson on ethics and on religion, and illuminates Bergson on the art of life.
Creative Evolution?!
Author: John Howland CampbellPublisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning
ISBN: 9780867209617
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 132
Book Description
Thsi text is designed as a supplemental reader for any evolution course or for readers who are interested in expanding their knowledge on evolutionary discussions. • •Evolution
The Evolution of Imagination
Author: Stephen T. AsmaPublisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022622516X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
Consider Miles Davis, horn held high, sculpting a powerful musical statement full of tonal patterns, inside jokes, and thrilling climactic phrases—all on the fly. Or think of a comedy troupe riffing on a couple of cues from the audience until the whole room is erupting with laughter. Or maybe it’s a team of software engineers brainstorming their way to the next Google, or the Einsteins of the world code-cracking the mysteries of nature. Maybe it’s simply a child playing with her toys. What do all of these activities share? With wisdom, humor, and joy, philosopher Stephen T. Asma answers that question in this book: imagination. And from there he takes us on an extraordinary tour of the human creative spirit. Guided by neuroscience, animal behavior, evolution, philosophy, and psychology, Asma burrows deep into the human psyche to look right at the enigmatic but powerful engine that is our improvisational creativity—the source, he argues, of our remarkable imaginational capacity. How is it, he asks, that a story can evoke a whole world inside of us? How are we able to rehearse a skill, a speech, or even an entire scenario simply by thinking about it? How does creativity go beyond experience and help us make something completely new? And how does our moral imagination help us sculpt a better society? As he shows, we live in a world that is only partly happening in reality. Huge swaths of our cognitive experiences are made up by “what-ifs,” “almosts,” and “maybes,” an imagined terrain that churns out one of the most overlooked but necessary resources for our flourishing: possibilities. Considering everything from how imagination works in our physical bodies to the ways we make images, from the mechanics of language and our ability to tell stories to the creative composition of self-consciousness, Asma expands our personal and day-to-day forms of imagination into a grand scale: as one of the decisive evolutionary forces that has guided human development from the Paleolithic era to today. The result is an inspiring look at the rich relationships among improvisation, imagination, and culture, and a privileged glimpse into the unique nature of our evolved minds.
