Henri Bergson

Henri-Louis Bergson was a French philosopher, born in 1859 and died in 1941, who was influential in both the analytic and continental traditions, especially during the first half of the twentieth century and again after 1966 when Gilles Deleuze published Le Bergsonisme. Bergson is known for arguing that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than abstract rationalism and science for understanding reality. He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize in Literature in recognition of his rich and vitalizing ideas and the brilliant skill with which they were presented, and in 1930 France awarded him its highest honor, the Grand-Croix de la Legion d'honneur. Bergson's great popularity created controversy in France, where his views were seen by some as opposing the secular and scientific attitude adopted by the Republic's officials.