Vladimir Jankélévitch's Henri Bergson is a great commentary written on philosopher Henri Bergson. Jankélévitch's analysis covers all aspects of Bergson's thought, from metaphysics, emotion and temporality, to psychology and biology. This edition also includes supplementary essays on Bergson by Jankélévitch, Bergson's letters to Jankélévitch, and an editor's introduction.

Editors' Preface  vii Acknowledgments  ix Introduction. Jankélévitch on Bergson: Living in Time / Alexandre Lefebvre  xi Introduction  1 1. Organic Totalities  3 I. The Whole and Its Elements  4 II. The Retrospective View and the Illusion of the Future Perfect  11 2. Freedom  23 I. Actor and Spectator  24 II. Becoming  30 III. The Free Act  49 3. Soul and Body  66 I. Thought and Brain  66 II. Recollection and Perception  79 III. Intellection  89 IV. Memory and Matter  94 4. Life  109 I. Finality  109 II. Instinct and Intellect  119 III. Matter and Life  137 5. Heroism and Saintliness  151 I. Suddenness  152 II. The Open and the Closed  156 III. Bergson's Maximalism  159 6. The Nothingness of Concepts and the Plentitude of Spirit  167 I. Fabrication and Organization: The Demiurgic Prejudice  167 II. On the Possible  179 7. Simplicity . . . and Joy  191 I. On Simplicity  191 II. Bergson's Optimism  203 Appendices   211 Supplementary Pieces  247 Preface to the First Edition of Henri Bergson (1930)  247 Letters to Vladimir Jankélévitch by Henri Bergson  248 Letter to Louis Beauduc on First Meeting Bergson (1923)  250 What Is the Value of Bergson's Thought? Interview with Françoise Reiss (1959)  251 Solemn Homage to Henri Bergson (1959)  253 Notes  261 Bibliography  299 Index  315

"There is no question that Vladimir Jankélévitch’s Henri Bergson is one of the most important books written on Bergson. Equally, there is no question that Deleuze’s book on Bergson is one of most important. However, what distinguishes the two, and what makes Jankélévitch’s book really valuable are the three chapters he added in 1959. These three chapters tell us precisely how to understand Bergson’s ethics (especially the chapter on Bergson and Judaism), and they contain the seeds of Jankélévitch’s own later work. Having such an accurate and scholarly English translation is great. The Introduction, by Alexandre Lefebvre, who is one of our most important Anglophone commentators on Bergson, is illuminating."