Philosophy and the adventure of the virtual : Bergson and the time of life

Chapter INTRODUCTION -- chapter 1 INTRODUCING TIME AS A VIRTUAL MULTIPLICITY -- chapter 2 'A LIFE OF THE REAL' AND A SINGLE TIME -- Relativity and virtual multiplicity -- chapter 3 DURATION AND EVOLUTION -- The time of life -- chapter 4 THE SIMPLE VIRTUAL -- A renewed thinking of the One -- chapter 5 THE ÉLAN VITAL AS AN IMAGE OF THOUGHT -- Bergson and Kant on finality -- chapter 6 VIRTUAL IMAGE -- Bergson on matter and perception -- chapter 7 The being of memory and the time of the self: from psychology to an ontology of the virtual -- From psychology to an ontology. The Concept Of The Virtual Has Recently Assumed A Remarkable Level Of Importance, Spanning A Diverse Range Of Different Disciplines And Approaches. Yet In Spite Of The Attention It Has Received, Its Precise Ontological Status Is Mysterious For Many And The Extent Of Its Application To Time, Perception, And Memory Is Largely Unexplored And Unknown. Philosophy And The Adventure Of The Virtual: Bergson And The Time Of Life Brings The Virtual To Centre Stage And Argues For Its Importance In Thinking Anew The Central Philosophical Questions Of Being And Time.--jacket. Introducing Time As A Virtual Multiplicity -- The Two Multiplicities -- The Time Of Number -- Is Time Space? -- Bergson And Russell On Continuity -- One Time And One Space -- Towards An Ontology Of Duration -- The Whole Of Duration -- 'a Life Of The Real' And A Single Time: Relativity And Virtual Multiplicity -- Popper On Parmenides -- The Problem Of Change -- Popper On Einstein As A Parmenidean -- Bergson On The Ancients And The Moderns -- Bergson And Relativity -- Popper Encounters Bergson -- Conclusion: Towards The Time Of Life -- Duration And Evolution: The Time Of Life -- Life As A Virtual Multiplicity -- The Possible And The Real -- Dennett On Darwin's Dangerous Idea -- Bachelard On Bergsonism -- Some Problems -- The Simple Virtual: A Renewed Thinking Of The One -- The One Of Pluralism: Bergson And Deleuze On Plotinus -- Deleuze On The Difference Of Life -- The Elan Vital As An Image Of Thought: Bergson And Kant On Finality -- Kant: The Problem Of Teleology -- Bergson's Response -- Bergson And Finality -- The Image Of The Elan Vital -- Virtual Image: Bergson On Matter And Perception -- All Is Image -- Between Idealism And Realism -- Beyond The Identity Thinking Of Materialism -- Beyond Idealism -- The Being Of Memory And The Time Of The Self: From Psychology To An Ontology Of The Virtual -- From Psychology To Ontology: Bergson On Pure Memory -- Virtual Memory And A Crystal-image Of Time -- The Synthesis Of The Pure Past In Difference And Repetition -- The Depths Of Time -- The Straight Line Of Time: Nietzsche And Kant. Keith Ansell Pearson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 230-241) And Index. This work considers these questions and many others in this lucid and imaginatively argued volume of essays, at the heart of which lies a philosophy of the virtual. The notion of the virtual has assumed a remarkable level of importance in recent years with the development of new technologies and the emergence of the Internet. Yet its precise ontological status and the range of its application to time and memory remain unclear and relatively unexplored. Keith Ansell Pearson brings the virtual to centre stage and argues its importance for re-thinking the central philosophical questions

With the development of new technologies and the Internet, the notion of the virtual has grown increasingly important. In this lucid collection of essays, Pearson bridges the continental-analytic divide in philosophy, bringing the virtual to centre stage and arguing its importance for re-thinking such central philosophical questions as time and life. Drawing on philosophers from Bergson, Kant and Nietzsche to Proust, Russell, Dennett and Badiou, Pearson examines the limits of continuity, explores relativity, and offers a concept of creative evolution.

The book examines the limits of continuity, explores relativity, and offers a concept of creative evolution. Staging a series of encounters between philosophers as diverse as Bergson, Kant, Nietzsche, Proust, Russell, Dennett and Badiou, the book provides some of the most insightful readings of Bergson and should be of interest to philosophers across the analytic and continental divide and to anyone open to the possibilities of thinking