Aristotle’s Theory of Dynamics

Abstract

Henri Bergson’s interpretation of Aristotle has not been adequately considered in scholarship. Bergson was greatly inspired by Aristotle’s method and discoveries in psychology and metaphysics, but Bergson also accused Aristotle of having reduced philosophy to an analysis of language. Beneath the apparent rigid formalism of Aristotelian logic, he had in fact described life in a dynamic and qualitatively rich way that is consonant with Bergson’s “qualitative multiplicity.” I show the commonalities between their philosophies and suggest ways of interpreting Aristotle from a Bergsonian perspective. In tracking all Bergson’s discussions of Aristotle—some very critical and reductive; others quite favorable and generous—it becomes evident that Aristotle’s dynamic sense of being describes qualitative multiplicity. This becomes clear when we examine the interrelated problems of movement, force, life, intuition, the soul, embodiment, time, ethics, and art. The theory of dynamics, or the dynamic sense of being, is the underlying thread which weaves these topics together in both Aristotelianism and Bergsonism. This dissertation demonstrates how effort and energy, constituting a hylomorphic unity of experience, provides phenomenological evidence grounding the theory of dynamics. The work of Bergson’s mentor, Félix Ravaisson, is decisive in this historical reconstruction. Ravaisson’s dynamic interpretation highlights Aristotle’s own critiques of logical formalism and presents an intuitive knowledge of life which is inexpressible in language. Bergson clearly borrows insights from Ravaisson’s interpretation but also discredits the validity of them. The burgeoning field of phenomenological interpretations of Aristotle contribute to the dynamic interpretation. I use this scholarship to refute aspects of Bergson’s logical interpretation. In sum, I show that Aristotle’s theory of dynamics is the central paradigm for his whole philosophy, tying together his physics, biology, psychology, epistemology, aesthetics and ethics. Bergson built further upon dynamics, evolving it endogenously, in order to create his qualitative multiplicity, flowing of duration, and élan vital. After critiquing the logical interpretations of Aristotle for their reliance on a metaphysics of presence, it becomes clear Aristotle had already described intensity, continuity, sympathy, and developmental progression as qualitative multiplicity, along the lines of Bergson. Key Words: Dynamism, Continuity, Virtual, Intensity, Development, Analogy, Integral, Concrete, Presence, Time, Energeia, Entelecheia, Movement, Invention, Intuition, Derivation, Habit, Intelligence, Indivisibility, Number, Qualitative, Multiplicity, Auto Affection, Phenomena, Aesthetics, Life.