La philosophie animale de Bergson. Conscience du vivant, créativité instinctive et biologie contemporaine

The non-human animal holds a significant position in Bergson’s work. However, because it often serves to illuminate other concepts – humanity, the élan vital – few studies have delved into Bergson’s animal philosophy. However, Bergson’s conception of the animal as an instinctive but conscious being, distinct from humans but partaking, like them, in the élan vital, provides valuable philosophical tools to address contemporary challenges in ethology and evolutionary theory. The aim of this article is to analyse the paradoxical instinctive consciousness that Bergson attributes to animals, and to explore the contemporary implications of such a conception. To do this, I first examine the singular place of animals in Bergsonian philosophy in relation to humans and the élan vital, highlighting how Bergson steers clear of an anthropocentric approach. I then investigate how, through their consciousness, animals uniquely contribute to the creativity of the élan vital. This leads me to distinguish between two forms of animal consciousness in Bergson, one of which makes room for genuine non-human inventiveness. Finally, I analyse the contemporary stakes of this animal philosophy, demonstrating how Bergson’s approach allows ethology to rethink its methods and encourages a fresh consideration of the role played by non-human organisms in evolution

The History of the Bergsonian Interpretation of Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution

Bergson offers an epistemological critique of Darwin’s theory that focuses on his gradualism: for Darwin variation is “minute”, and Bergson glosses “insensible.” His main argument is that if variations are insensible, they cannot confer an advantage to the organism and therefore be selected. Yet, for Darwin, the selected variation is not insensible: to be selected, it must be beneficial to its bearer in the struggle for existence. This article aims at understanding the origin of this misunderstanding by tracing the history of this critique. To do this, we will study Bergson’s sources, showing that his interpretation of Darwin is in line with the critique of many biologists at the turn of the 20th century, albeit in a confused way. This will lead us back to the origin of this critique: the work of Mivart. In this study, we wish to reveal the anchor of the Bergsonian interpretation in the debates of his time, and the shifts from the traditional exposition of the argument that led Bergson to formulate this false paradox. This article will also analyze more precisely the counterexample of the “analogy of structure” to show that, despite Bergson’s misunderstanding, he did point to actual limits of the Darwinian theory

Biological constraints as norms in evolution

Biology seems to present local and transitory regularities rather than immutable laws. To account for these historically constituted regularities and to distinguish them from mathematical invariants, Montévil and Mossio (Journal of Theoretical Biology 372:179–191, 2015) have proposed to speak of constraints. In this article we analyse the causal power of these constraints in the evolution of biodiversity, i.e., their positivity, but also the modality of their action on the directions taken by evolution. We argue that to fully account for the causal power of these constraints on evolution, they must be thought of in terms of normativity. In this way, we want to highlight two characteristics of the evolutionary constraints. The first, already emphasised as reported by Gould (The structure of evolutionary theory, Harvard University Press, 2002), is that these constraints are both produced by and producing biological evolution and that this circular causation creates true novelties. The second is that this specific causality, which generates unpredictability in evolution, stems not only from the historicity of biological constraints, but also from their internalisation through the practices of living beings

Agency, Inventiveness, and Animal Play: Novel Insights into the Active Role of Organisms in Evolution

Agency is a central concept in the organisational approach to organisms, which accounts for their internal purposiveness. Recent recognition of the active role played by organisms in evolution has led researchers to use this concept in an evolutionary approach. Agency is then considered in terms of ‘unintentional’ choice: agents choose from a given repertoire the behaviour most appropriate to their goal, with this choice influencing evolutionary pathways. This view, while allowing for the evolutionary role of the activity of organisms, presents two pitfalls. First, it restricts organisms’ agency by confining their choice within the bounds of a behavioural repertoire, and assuming their goals are dictated by natural selection. Second, this view, while claiming to eliminate the idea of intentionality, retains its structure: organisms are portrayed as rational entities, persistently pursuing specific goals. This leads us back to a teleological thinking, whose use in evolutionary theory has already been heavily criticised. This paper proposes a conception of biological agency which does not assume goal-directedness but considers agency as inventiveness. An organism will be said to be an agent if it is the triggering cause of behaviours falling outside the known repertoire and whose form can only be explained by the unique relationship between the organism and the environment. If these behaviours have implications in evolution, the agent will be considered an evolutionary agent. The merit of this approach is further validated by evidencing the significant role behavioural innovations play in evolution. Finally, the last section delves into the process of invention by examining animal play

The "history" of biodiversity. A Bergsonian look at the theory of evolution

Neo-Darwinism, through the combination of natural selection and genetics, has made possible an explanation of adaptive phenomena that claims to be devoid of metaphysical presuppositions. What Bergson already deplored and what we explore in this paper is the implicit finalism of such evolutionary explanations, which turn living beings into closed and static systems rather than understanding biological evolution as a process characterized by its interactions and temporal openness. Without denying the heuristic efficiency of the explanation resting upon natural selection, we analyze what it leaves out and what remains to be explored: the unpredictability of the evolutionary process. We will therefore study the role of contingency in evolution, as Stephen J. Gould proposed, but we will also consider the causality specific to the living world that makes it impossible to reduce it to a simple algorithm, as proposed by Daniel Dennett among others, but that it is really a creative causation, or dialectical spiral

Bergson's vitalisms

In the eyes of the biologist Jacques Monod, Bergson is “the most illustrious promoter of a metaphysical vitalism” revolting against rationality. This interpretation, not exclusive to Monod, is often accompanied by the accusation that Bergson’s vitalism would be teleological, and maybe even mystical – this last idea being reinforced by the success that Bergson receives among the spiritualists. This understanding of Bergsonian philosophy led to his disrepute among scientists. Even today, despite the renewed interest in Bergson’s reflections on science, he is not considered a philosopher of science. And the popular (textbook) opinion is still that his élan vital is a spiritual principle at the origin of all living things and even of all reality: Bergson is considered a vitalist using biology to develop a spiritualist metaphysics, which makes him acceptable to philosophers but not to scientists. Yet, Bergson’s position is ambiguous. Even though he criticises the intellectualist paradigm of science, which he claims is unable to comprehend the living, and proposes a form of vitalism, the philosophy of Creative Evolution may be regarded as a true philosophy of biology. However, some texts make the status of his vitalism problematic, such as The Two Sources of Morality and Religion, in which the élan vital is integrated into a reflection on the divine. The aim of this paper is to disentangle what, in Bergson, can or cannot be considered as a philosophy relevant to science, by trying to clarify the label ‘vitalist’ that has so commonly been assigned to him, often pejoratively. This will involve examining the link between his vitalism and the spiritualism he has been credited with. Contrary to Olivier Perru who has proposed an excellent analysis of Bergson’s vitalism but focusing only on Creative Evolution, I will study his different works, to show that Bergson’s position shifts according to the subjects under study: before Creative Evolution, Bergson develops a form of spiritualism; in Creative Evolution, he proposes a form of vitalism that may not be clearly related to his spiritualism; finally, I argue that, in The Two Sources, the distinction is not so clear and that his vitalism itself may indeed become spiritualist. His spiritualism transforms according to his works and the meaning of his vitalism changes in return. I hypothesise that Bergson is a vitalist-opportunist: there are several forms of vitalism Bergson, that have neither the same ontological status nor the same function, according to the purpose of the moment. This is not to say that Bergson changes his theory completely

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome associated with COVID-19: An Emulated Target Trial Analysis.

RATIONALE: Whether COVID patients may benefit from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) compared with conventional invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effect of ECMO on 90-Day mortality vs IMV only Methods: Among 4,244 critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 included in a multicenter cohort study, we emulated a target trial comparing the treatment strategies of initiating ECMO vs. no ECMO within 7 days of IMV in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (PaO2/FiO2 <80 or PaCO2 ≥60 mmHg). We controlled for confounding using a multivariable Cox model based on predefined variables. MAIN RESULTS: 1,235 patients met the full eligibility criteria for the emulated trial, among whom 164 patients initiated ECMO. The ECMO strategy had a higher survival probability at Day-7 from the onset of eligibility criteria (87% vs 83%, risk difference: 4%, 95% CI 0;9%) which decreased during follow-up (survival at Day-90: 63% vs 65%, risk difference: -2%, 95% CI -10;5%). However, ECMO was associated with higher survival when performed in high-volume ECMO centers or in regions where a specific ECMO network organization was set up to handle high demand, and when initiated within the first 4 days of MV and in profoundly hypoxemic patients. CONCLUSIONS: In an emulated trial based on a nationwide COVID-19 cohort, we found differential survival over time of an ECMO compared with a no-ECMO strategy. However, ECMO was consistently associated with better outcomes when performed in high-volume centers and in regions with ECMO capacities specifically organized to handle high demand. This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Par-delà tout finalisme : Bergson, critique des évolutionnistes

This dissertation questions the use of the teleological thinking mode, whether implicit or explicit, in evolutionary biology. The aim is to understand the reasons for it, to identify its limits, and to propose a conception that provides a way out of such a model. To do this, we rely on the philosophy of Bergson, one of the first to denounce the implicit finalism of the theory of evolution. To escape from this teleology, Bergson proposes to conceive of evolution as an élan vital, a concept that has generally been considered as purely metaphysical and having nothing to teach science. In contrast to this interpretation, we have chosen to take this concept seriously, insofar as it invites us to convert our scientific methods and to take into consideration the creative efficiency of duration, which renders obsolete any deterministic/probabilistic, but also teleological conception of evolution (mechanism and finalism appearing as two sides of the same coin). We will first analyse the theories of evolution under debate at the time of Bergson’s writing, as well as the foundations of the Bergsonian critique. We will then propose to study jointly the reception of Bergson and the evolution of the theory of evolution during the 20th century. This work will allow us to highlight the persistence of a teleological thinking despite a claimed reductionist mechanism. Finally, starting from Bergson’s philosophy, but drawing on contemporary discoveries in evolutionary biology and the philosophy of biology, we will develop a conception of evolution that goes beyond finalism and truly embraces the effectiveness of duration and the creativity of living beings. Taking seriously the appearance of intentionality that we observe in biological phenomena, we will analyse its causes by putting the evolutionary role of living beings in the foreground. The stakes of this work are therefore both theoretical: questioning our scientific models, and ethical: rethinking our interspecific relations, in order to think with and do with the beings that share our history.Ce travail interroge l’usage du mode de pensée téléologique, que cet usage soit implicite ou explicite, dans la biologie de l’évolution. Il s’agit d’en comprendre les raisons, d’en identifier les limites, et de proposer une conception qui permette de sortir d’un tel modèle. Pour ce faire, nous nous appuyons sur la philosophie de Bergson, un des premiers à dénoncer le finalisme implicite de la théorie de l’évolution. Pour sortir de cette téléologie, Bergson propose de concevoir l’évolution comme un élan vital, concept qui a été généralement considéré comme purement métaphysique, et n’ayant rien à apprendre à la science. A rebours de cette interprétation, nous avons choisi de prendre au sérieux ce concept, en tant qu’il invite à une conversion de nos méthodes scientifiques et à la prise en considération de l’efficace créatrice de la durée qui rend caduque toute conception déterministe/probabiliste, mais aussi téléologique de l’évolution (mécanisme et finalisme apparaissant comme les deux faces d’une même pièce). Nous analyserons d’abord les théories de l’évolution en débat au moment où écrit Bergson ainsi que les fondements de la critique bergsonienne. Nous proposerons ensuite d’étudier conjointement la réception de Bergson et l’évolution de la théorie de l’évolution au cours du XXe siècle. Ce travail nous permettra de mettre en lumière la persistance d’un mode de pensée téléologique malgré un mécanisme réductionniste revendiqué. Enfin, à partir de la philosophie de Bergson, mais en nous appuyant surtout sur les découvertes contemporaines de la biologie de l’évolution et de la philosophie de la biologie, nous développerons une conception de l’évolution par-delà tout finalisme, qui fasse véritablement la place à l’efficace de la durée et la créativité du vivant. Prenant au sérieux l’apparence d’intentionnalité que nous observons dans les phénomènes biologiques, nous en analyserons les causes en mettant au premier plan le rôle évolutionnaire des êtres vivants. Les enjeux de ce travail sont donc à la fois théoriques : interroger nos modèles scientifiques, et éthiques : repenser nos relations interspécifiques, pour penser avec et faire avec les êtres qui partagent notre histoire

Par-delà tout finalisme : Bergson, critique des évolutionnistes

This dissertation questions the use of the teleological thinking mode, whether implicit or explicit, in evolutionary biology. The aim is to understand the reasons for it, to identify its limits, and to propose a conception that provides a way out of such a model. To do this, we rely on the philosophy of Bergson, one of the first to denounce the implicit finalism of the theory of evolution. To escape from this teleology, Bergson proposes to conceive of evolution as an élan vital, a concept that has generally been considered as purely metaphysical and having nothing to teach science. In contrast to this interpretation, we have chosen to take this concept seriously, insofar as it invites us to convert our scientific methods and to take into consideration the creative efficiency of duration, which renders obsolete any deterministic/probabilistic, but also teleological conception of evolution (mechanism and finalism appearing as two sides of the same coin). We will first analyse the theories of evolution under debate at the time of Bergson’s writing, as well as the foundations of the Bergsonian critique. We will then propose to study jointly the reception of Bergson and the evolution of the theory of evolution during the 20th century. This work will allow us to highlight the persistence of a teleological thinking despite a claimed reductionist mechanism. Finally, starting from Bergson’s philosophy, but drawing on contemporary discoveries in evolutionary biology and the philosophy of biology, we will develop a conception of evolution that goes beyond finalism and truly embraces the effectiveness of duration and the creativity of living beings. Taking seriously the appearance of intentionality that we observe in biological phenomena, we will analyse its causes by putting the evolutionary role of living beings in the foreground. The stakes of this work are therefore both theoretical: questioning our scientific models, and ethical: rethinking our interspecific relations, in order to think with and do with the beings that share our history.Ce travail interroge l’usage du mode de pensée téléologique, que cet usage soit implicite ou explicite, dans la biologie de l’évolution. Il s’agit d’en comprendre les raisons, d’en identifier les limites, et de proposer une conception qui permette de sortir d’un tel modèle. Pour ce faire, nous nous appuyons sur la philosophie de Bergson, un des premiers à dénoncer le finalisme implicite de la théorie de l’évolution. Pour sortir de cette téléologie, Bergson propose de concevoir l’évolution comme un élan vital, concept qui a été généralement considéré comme purement métaphysique, et n’ayant rien à apprendre à la science. A rebours de cette interprétation, nous avons choisi de prendre au sérieux ce concept, en tant qu’il invite à une conversion de nos méthodes scientifiques et à la prise en considération de l’efficace créatrice de la durée qui rend caduque toute conception déterministe/probabiliste, mais aussi téléologique de l’évolution (mécanisme et finalisme apparaissant comme les deux faces d’une même pièce). Nous analyserons d’abord les théories de l’évolution en débat au moment où écrit Bergson ainsi que les fondements de la critique bergsonienne. Nous proposerons ensuite d’étudier conjointement la réception de Bergson et l’évolution de la théorie de l’évolution au cours du XXe siècle. Ce travail nous permettra de mettre en lumière la persistance d’un mode de pensée téléologique malgré un mécanisme réductionniste revendiqué. Enfin, à partir de la philosophie de Bergson, mais en nous appuyant surtout sur les découvertes contemporaines de la biologie de l’évolution et de la philosophie de la biologie, nous développerons une conception de l’évolution par-delà tout finalisme, qui fasse véritablement la place à l’efficace de la durée et la créativité du vivant. Prenant au sérieux l’apparence d’intentionnalité que nous observons dans les phénomènes biologiques, nous en analyserons les causes en mettant au premier plan le rôle évolutionnaire des êtres vivants. Les enjeux de ce travail sont donc à la fois théoriques : interroger nos modèles scientifiques, et éthiques : repenser nos relations interspécifiques, pour penser avec et faire avec les êtres qui partagent notre histoire

Evolution beyond all finalism : Bergson’s critique of evolutionists

Ce travail interroge l’usage du mode de pensée téléologique, que cet usage soit implicite ou explicite, dans la biologie de l’évolution. Il s’agit d’en comprendre les raisons, d’en identifier les limites, et de proposer une conception qui permette de sortir d’un tel modèle. Pour ce faire, nous nous appuyons sur la philosophie de Bergson, un des premiers à dénoncer le finalisme implicite de la théorie de l’évolution. Pour sortir de cette téléologie, Bergson propose de concevoir l’évolution comme un élan vital, concept qui a été généralement considéré comme purement métaphysique, et n’ayant rien à apprendre à la science. A rebours de cette interprétation, nous avons choisi de prendre au sérieux ce concept, en tant qu’il invite à une conversion de nos méthodes scientifiques et à la prise en considération de l’efficace créatrice de la durée qui rend caduque toute conception déterministe/probabiliste, mais aussi téléologique de l’évolution (mécanisme et finalisme apparaissant comme les deux faces d’une même pièce). Nous analyserons d’abord les théories de l’évolution en débat au moment où écrit Bergson ainsi que les fondements de la critique bergsonienne. Nous proposerons ensuite d’étudier conjointement la réception de Bergson et l’évolution de la théorie de l’évolution au cours du XXe siècle. Ce travail nous permettra de mettre en lumière la persistance d’un mode de pensée téléologique malgré un mécanisme réductionniste revendiqué. Enfin, à partir de la philosophie de Bergson, mais en nous appuyant surtout sur les découvertes contemporaines de la biologie de l’évolution et de la philosophie de la biologie, nous développerons une conception de l’évolution par-delà tout finalisme, qui fasse véritablement la place à l’efficace de la durée et la créativité du vivant. Prenant au sérieux l’apparence d’intentionnalité que nous observons dans les phénomènes biologiques, nous en analyserons les causes en mettant au premier plan le rôle évolutionnaire des êtres vivants. Les enjeux de ce travail sont donc à la fois théoriques : interroger nos modèles scientifiques, et éthiques : repenser nos relations interspécifiques, pour penser avec et faire avec les êtres qui partagent notre histoire.This dissertation questions the use of the teleological thinking mode, whether implicit or explicit, in evolutionary biology. The aim is to understand the reasons for it, to identify its limits, and to propose a conception that provides a way out of such a model. To do this, we rely on the philosophy of Bergson, one of the first to denounce the implicit finalism of the theory of evolution. To escape from this teleology, Bergson proposes to conceive of evolution as an élan vital, a concept that has generally been considered as purely metaphysical and having nothing to teach science. In contrast to this interpretation, we have chosen to take this concept seriously, insofar as it invites us to convert our scientific methods and to take into consideration the creative efficiency of duration, which renders obsolete any deterministic/probabilistic, but also teleological conception of evolution (mechanism and finalism appearing as two sides of the same coin). We will first analyse the theories of evolution under debate at the time of Bergson’s writing, as well as the foundations of the Bergsonian critique. We will then propose to study jointly the reception of Bergson and the evolution of the theory of evolution during the 20th century. This work will allow us to highlight the persistence of a teleological thinking despite a claimed reductionist mechanism. Finally, starting from Bergson’s philosophy, but drawing on contemporary discoveries in evolutionary biology and the philosophy of biology, we will develop a conception of evolution that goes beyond finalism and truly embraces the effectiveness of duration and the creativity of living beings. Taking seriously the appearance of intentionality that we observe in biological phenomena, we will analyse its causes by putting the evolutionary role of living beings in the foreground. The stakes of this work are therefore both theoretical: questioning our scientific models, and ethical: rethinking our interspecific relations, in order to think with and do with the beings that share our history