Panpsychism in Bergson and James
Bergsoniana January 1, 2022 Joël Dolbeault
Bergson and James both defend a form of panpsychism, with Bergson likely influencing James. Bergson argues that matter possesses psychic characters, such as memory of the immediate past and motor memory, necessary to explain causation in the physical world, which he compares to automatic activity in living beings. However, he maintains a radical distinction between the inert and the living, where only the living is capable of creation. James, probably inspired by Bergson, similarly holds that causation in the physical world requires matter to have psychic characters. Unlike Bergson, James does not make a radical distinction between the inert and the living, leading him to connect matter and consciousness.