Beyond Bergson: Examining Race and Colonialism through the Writings of Henri Bergson (SUNY series, Philosophy and Race)

Examines Bergson’s work from the perspectives of critical philosophy of race and decolonial theory, placing it in conversation with theorists from Africa, the African Diaspora, and Latin America. Building upon recent interest in Henri Bergson’s social and political philosophy, this volume offers a series of fresh and novel perspectives on Bergson’s writings through the lenses of critical philosophy of race and decolonial theory. Contributors place Bergson’s work in conversation with theorists from Africa, the African Diaspora, and Latin America to examine Bergson’s influence on literature, science studies, aesthetics, metaphysics, and social and political philosophy within these geopolitical contexts. The volume pays particular attention to both theoretical and practical forms of critical resistance work, including historical analyses of anti-racist, anti-imperialist, and anti-capitalist movements that have engaged with Bergson’s writings—for example, the Négritude movement, the Indigenismo movement, and the Peruvian Socialist Party. These historical and theoretical intersections provide a timely and innovative contribution to the existing scholarship on Bergson, and demonstrate the importance of his thought for contemporary social and political issues. “This is an exceptionally strong volume that excites and inspires the philosophical imagination; it shows the centrality of questions of race and gender to philosophical inquiry and appropriation.” — Keith Ansell-Pearson, author of Bergson: Thinking Beyond the Human Condition Contents......Page 6 Foreword by Leonard Lawlor......Page 8 Notes......Page 13 Andrea J. Pitts......Page 16 Mark William Westmoreland......Page 17 Introduction: Creative Extensions by Andrea J. Pitts and Mark William Westmoreland......Page 20 Bergson’s Political Career......Page 21 Race and Colonialism......Page 22 Structure of the Volume......Page 24 Creative Pathways through the Volume......Page 26 Notes......Page 27 Part I: Bergson on Colonialism, Social Groups, and the State......Page 30 1. Decolonizing Bergson: The Temporal Schema of the Open and the Closed by Alia Al-Saji......Page 32 Reading The Two Sources......Page 35 The Two Sources of Morality and Religion......Page 38 Open/Closed: Questions of Method......Page 42 Conclusion: Half-Opening or Decolonizing Bergson?......Page 47 Notes......Page 49 2. The Language of Closure: Homogeneity, Exclusion, and the State by Martin Shuster......Page 56 Bergson on Norms......Page 63 Bergson on Community......Page 65 Community and Language......Page 67 Conclusion......Page 69 Notes......Page 70 3. The Politics of Sympathy in Bergson’s The Two Sources of Morality and Religion by Melanie White......Page 76 Natural Sympathy......Page 79 Complete Sympathy......Page 87 Conclusion......Page 91 Notes......Page 92 Part II: Bergsonian Themes in the Négritude Movement......Page 96 4. Bergson, Senghor, and the Philosophical Foundations of Négritude: Intellect, Intuition, and Knowledge by Clevis Headley......Page 98 Bergson in Context......Page 99 Bergson on Intellect......Page 100 Bergson on Science......Page 101 Cinematographic Method......Page 102 Duration......Page 104 Intuition......Page 105 Donna Jones’s Critique of Biological Vitalism......Page 110 Cheikh Thiam’s Afri-Centered Reading of Senghor......Page 111 Négritude as Antiracist Racism......Page 113 Materialist and Nonessentialist Critiques of Négritude......Page 114 Senghor on Bergson and Developments in Modern European Epistemology......Page 118 Epistemology and Négritude......Page 120 African Art as Philosophy......Page 121 Senghor on Négritude as Epistemology......Page 123 The Ontology of Rhythms......Page 127 Reason and Emotion in Négritude Epistemology......Page 128 Conclusion......Page 133 Notes......Page 134 5. The Spectacle of Belonging: Henri Bergson’s Comic Negro and the (Im)possibility of Place in the Colonial Metropolis by Annette K. Joseph-Gabriel......Page 140 Laughter and the Black Body......Page 141 Reclaiming Authenticity in La Revue du monde noir......Page 146 Putting on Identities in the Metropole......Page 151 Notes......Page 156 Part III: Race, Revolution, and Bergsonism in Latin America......Page 160 6. Racial Becomings: Evolution, Materialism, and Bergson in Spanish America by Adriana Novoa......Page 162 Darwinism and the Latin Race after 1870......Page 163 Bergsonism and Racial Difference......Page 170 Conclusion: Neo-Idealism and New Materialism......Page 181 Notes......Page 184 7. Bergsonism in Postrevolutionary Mexico: Antonio Caso’s Theory of Aesthetic Intuition by Andrea J. Pitts......Page 190 El Ateneo and Antipositivism......Page 191 Aesthetic Intuition and Bergsonism......Page 196 Contemporary Philosophical Issues in Caso’s Bergsonist Aesthetics......Page 204 Notes......Page 207 8. Antagonism and Myth: José Carlos Mariátegui’s Revolutionary Bergsonism by Jaime Hanneken......Page 212 Sorel and the Myth of the General Strike......Page 215 Clarifying Peruvian History......Page 218 Contradiction and Antagonism......Page 222 Mythic Potential......Page 225 Notes......Page 227 Bibliography......Page 230 Contributors......Page 246 Index......Page 250 "Building upon recent interest in Henri Bergson's social and political philosophy, this volume highlights extensions and critiques of Bergson's writings through the lenses of critical philosophy of race and decolonial theory. Placing Bergson's work in conversation with theorists from Africa, the African Diaspora, and Latin America, the contributors examine Bergson's influence within literature, science studies, aesthetics, metaphysics, and social and political philosophy to show the role that his work has played within differing geopolitical contexts. The volume pays particular attention to both theoretical and practical forms of critical resistance work, including historical analyses of decolonial and anti-racist movements that have engaged with Bergson's writings, for instance, the Négritude movement, the Indigenismo movement, and the Peruvian Socialist Party. These historical and theoretical intersections provide a timely and innovative contribution to the existing scholarship on Bergson, and demonstrates the importance of Bergson's thought for contemporary social and political issues"-- Provided by publisher Andrea J. Pitts is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Mark William Westmoreland is a doctoral candidate and instructor of ethics and philosophy at Villanova University.