Interlude: From Epistemic Debate to an Ethics of Technology

Abstract

In these past chapters I have given an account of the relevance of the philosophical oeuvre of Henri Bergson by first contextualising Bergson’s views with regard to three scientific domains – physics, life sciences, neuroscience – and subsequently by elaborating on Bergson’s ideas. Finally, I pointed to some elements that still seem relevant for these domains in the current situation. This, however, does not mean that these domains must be seen as separate, compartmentalised blocks. Interrelated discussions, perspectives and concepts apply to all three domains, and form a series of interwoven threads. The question that precedes all other questions is not the question of the self, nor that of matter, nor that of life. It is the question of how to account for ‘one’ and ‘manifold’: how are divergence, individuation and discreteness possible whilst direct, immediate experience is always in flux? This chapter discusses these interrelations.