The shift in human evolution : Bergson on technology, language and space -

Abstract

Bergson’s work is generally oriented towards time, intuition and metaphysics. But, to elaborate on these topics, Bergson cannot avoid clarifying the concepts of space, intelligence and technology as the more familiar topics on which he can build. For the purpose of the thesis, if we turn our attention away from time, intuition and metaphysics in Bergson’s writings and reorient it towards space, intelligence and technology, we can construct the way in which Bergson actually sees those seemingly familiar topics. From here the question becomes about clarifying the relationship between space, intelligence, technology and language within a Bergsonian framework. This work is carried out while recognizing that Bergson claims that intelligence, as part of all living matter, can go from extreme vagueness to extreme clarity. It will thus be necessary to look at how this spectrum of intelligence might affect space and through it language and technology within this framework. It will also be necessary to prefigure what this relationship might imply in the case of an intelligence more advanced than that of humans. To this end, the thesis will first explicate Bergson’s understanding of organic matter and the intricate mechanisms through which it acts upon the universe and from there elaborate on the use of technology and language as tools to manipulate space, ultimately explaining how technology, language and even space, as we perceive it, are offspring of intelligence, as they shift and change according to its vagueness and clarity.