Since that which is not, is not; That which is, is. Reality = That which is/That I am (All-inclusive = Absolute). That which is, that is nothing in particular (actual), is by definition everything in general (potential). 0. Potential = Being 1. Actual = Becoming (actualized) We are perpetually moving toward or away from something.
Instead of saying that "consciousness" constantly draws us away from duration, couldn't we say that it's our intellect that is doing that, leaving consciousness to be synonymous with duration?
Bergson makes Consciousness, Intellect, and Habit almost synonymous. Here, he is partly thinking through Plotinus, and wants to say that a lot of our psychical states have more to do with unconscious forces than conscious contents. The degree of tension that brings the unique concentration is not the conscious state itself but the dynamic within duration that makes it possible. Plotinus makes intuition into something that exceeds consciousness, partly because it is eternal and outside time. Bergson sees the past as in some sense eternal and outside becoming. But Bergson also sees pure sensation as a infra-conscious reality which is also unconscious in that it exceeds consciousness. In Matter and Memory he leans into this and says that a psychical state or sensation can cease to be conscious without ceasing to exist. In short, the importance of limiting our understanding of consciousness is due to the sense that existence and the psychical are themselves greater realities than consciousness which give rise to it. It is the product of a diminution when two integral realities come together in reciprocal elimination; past and passing.
Since that which is not, is not; That which is, is.
Reality = That which is/That I am (All-inclusive = Absolute).
That which is, that is nothing in particular (actual), is by definition everything in general (potential).
0. Potential = Being
1. Actual = Becoming (actualized)
We are perpetually moving toward or away from something.
Dewey Larson's _Reciprocal Systems Theory of Space and Time_ might matter
Subbed. Big up.
This setup is super good. Amazing video by the way, you're insanely good at teaching. Currently reading Bergonism by Gilles Deleuz :)
🙏🏻🫡
Cone t-shirt!!!
😎
Instead of saying that "consciousness" constantly draws us away from duration, couldn't we say that it's our intellect that is doing that, leaving consciousness to be synonymous with duration?
Bergson makes Consciousness, Intellect, and Habit almost synonymous. Here, he is partly thinking through Plotinus, and wants to say that a lot of our psychical states have more to do with unconscious forces than conscious contents. The degree of tension that brings the unique concentration is not the conscious state itself but the dynamic within duration that makes it possible. Plotinus makes intuition into something that exceeds consciousness, partly because it is eternal and outside time. Bergson sees the past as in some sense eternal and outside becoming. But Bergson also sees pure sensation as a infra-conscious reality which is also unconscious in that it exceeds consciousness. In Matter and Memory he leans into this and says that a psychical state or sensation can cease to be conscious without ceasing to exist. In short, the importance of limiting our understanding of consciousness is due to the sense that existence and the psychical are themselves greater realities than consciousness which give rise to it. It is the product of a diminution when two integral realities come together in reciprocal elimination; past and passing.
@@SocraticSwansongs thank you for this clarification. For Bergson, consciousness is less than duration / intuition. Got it!