Henri Bergson and the Flow of Time

August 17, 2025

Many people think of time as a series of events, like successive frames in a movie. But French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941) argued that this widespread picture was wrong: everything is in constant motion, and can’t be captured by a series of static descriptions. So why does Bergson think our intuition guides us and reason leads us astray? If your self is constantly in flux, is there any such thing as the real you? And how would we have to change our language to reflect the truth? Josh and Ray go with the flow of Barry Allen from McMaster University, author of Living in Time: The Philosophy of Henri Bergson.

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Portrait of a balding man with glasses, thoughtful expression.
Barry Allen, Professor of Philosophy, McMaster University

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