Every truth is a path traced through reality: but among these paths there are some to which we could have given an entirely different turn if our attention had been orientated in a different direction or if we had aimed at another kind of utility; there are some, on the contrary, whose direction is marked out by reality itself: there are some, one might say, which correspond to currents of reality. Doubtless these also depend upon us to a certain extent, for we are free to go against the current or to follow it, and even if we follow it, we can variously divert it, being at the same time associated with and submitted to the force manifest within it. Nevertheless these currents are not created by us; they are part and parcel of reality.
Henri L. Bergson—The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics, p. 218
ETA: retracted. I posted this on the basis of my interpretation of the first sentence, but the rest of the quote makes clear that my interpretation of the first sentence was incorrect, and I don’t believe it belongs in a rationality quotes page anymore.
Quite. Bergson might not reach the same level of awfulness as the examples David Stove pillories, but I couldn’t penetrate the fog of this paragraph, not even with the context. I think Wikipedia nails the jelly to the wall, though: Bergson argued that “immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality”. In which case, −1 to Bergson. I learn from the article that Bergson also coined the expression élan vital.
Henri L. Bergson—The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics, p. 218
ETA: retracted. I posted this on the basis of my interpretation of the first sentence, but the rest of the quote makes clear that my interpretation of the first sentence was incorrect, and I don’t believe it belongs in a rationality quotes page anymore.
What?
Quite. Bergson might not reach the same level of awfulness as the examples David Stove pillories, but I couldn’t penetrate the fog of this paragraph, not even with the context. I think Wikipedia nails the jelly to the wall, though: Bergson argued that “immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality”. In which case, −1 to Bergson. I learn from the article that Bergson also coined the expression élan vital.