The thought of Henri Bergson (1859-1941), one of the most influential theorists of time of the twentieth century, has primarily been confined to the so-called “continental” tradition of philosophy. In the past few years this has started to change; his work has begun to receive ingenious reassessment from philosophers outside the field of “continental” philosophy in general and within analytic philosophy in particular. The aim of this conference is to capture this moment and use it to provide new perspectives on Bergsonian philosophy, expanding and reassessing Bergson’s legacy and producing a major permutation in the philosophy of time.

Presentation

The thought of Henri Bergson (1859-1941), one of the most influential theorists of time of the twentieth century, has primarily been confined to the so-called “continental” tradition of philosophy. In the past few years this has started to change; his work has begun to receive ingenious reassessment from philosophers outside the field of “continental” philosophy in general and within analytic philosophy in particular. The aim of this conference is to capture this moment and use it to provide new perspectives on Bergsonian philosophy, expanding and reassessing Bergson’s legacy and producing a major permutation in the philosophy of time.

Programme

Wednesday 11 September

• 8.45-9.00. Matyáš Moravec (Cambridge), Welcome & Introduction
• 9.00-9.45. Anne Sophie Meincke (Southampton), “Lessons from Bergson for (Analytic) Process Metaphysics”
• 9.45-10.30. Florian Fischer (Siegen), “Bergsonian Answers to Contemporary Persistence Questions”

10.30-11.00: Tea break

• 11.00-11.45. Mark Sinclair (Roehampton), “Express Yourself! Bergson on Freedom”

11.45-13.00. Lunch

• 13.00-13.45. Steven Savitt (UCB), “What Bergson Should Have Said to Einstein”
• 13.45-14.30. Suzanne Guerlac (Berkeley), “Bergson: Misreadings / Rereadings”

14.30-15.00: Tea break

• 15.00-15.45. Elie During (Paris X Nanterre), “Indeterminacy, Non-Locality and Simultaneity: Uncovering Bergson’s Creative Present”
• 15.45-16.30. Emmanuel Picavet (Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne), “Bergsonian Challenges for Our Understanding of Regulation, Interaction and Constraints in Connection With Collective Aspirations.”

Thursday 12 September

8.45-9.00. Opening remarks

• 9.00-9.45. Barry Dainton (Liverpool), “Bergson, Einstein, and the Fall of Light”
• 9.45-10.30. Caterina Zanfi (CNRS / ENS), “Time and History in Bergson’s Philosophy”

10.30-11.00. Tea break

• 11.00-11.45. Frédéric Worms (ENS),“Thinking in Bergson’s Philosophy”

11.45-13.00. Lunch

• 13.00-13.45. Sonja Deppe (Jena / Landau), “The Benefits of Bergson’s ‘Qualitative Multiplicity’ for Temporal Metaphysics”

13.45-14.15. Tea break

• 14.15-15.00. Yaron Wolf (Oxford), “Bergson and the Experience of Time: A Contemporary Perspective”
• 15.00-15.30. Florian Fischer (Siegen), Concluding Remarks

Organisation

Lead organiser

• Matyáš Moravec (Cambridge)

Co-organisers

• Theo Borgvin-Weiss (Cambridge),
• Florian Fischer (Siegen),
• Sam Sokolsky-Tifft (Cambridge),
• Zoe Walker (Cambridge)

This event is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Aristotelian Society, the British Society for the History of Philosophy, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, the Mind Association, Pembroke College, Cambridge, the Société des amis de Bergson, and co-organised together with the Society for Philosophy of Time.

For more information: https://s-p-o-t.weebly.com/reassessing-bergson.html