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1、TheMetaphysicsofLife25TheMetaphysicsofLifeFromLeçonsdePsychologieetdeMétaphysiquegivenatClermont-Ferrand,1887-88HenriBergsonLesson11VariousConceptionsofLifeLet’snowrisenowabovematterperse,andlet’sinquireintowhatcharacterizesthelivingbeing.Therearemanytheoriesonthenature,originandessence
2、oflife;wewillbeginwiththemostsimple,whichdeniesthatlifeissomethingsuigeneris,andwhichclaimstoreducevitalphenomenatophysicalandchemicalfactslikeanyothers.First,thereisonepointuponwhicheveryoneagrees:vitalphenomenapresentcharacteristicsthatseemsodistinctfromthoseofinertmatterthatwehaveinv
3、entedanewnametodistinguishthem;thusnobodyquestionstheappearanceofphenomenasuigeneris.Whatarethesephenomena?Atfirstglance,whatdistinguishesthelivingbodyfrombrutematteristhepresenceofanapparentcapacitytoreactagainstphysicalandchemicalforces—akindofinitiative.Amerebody[corpsbrut],lefttoits
4、elf,necessarilysufferstheinevitableactionofgravity,ofheat,orofanyotherphysicalforce.Thephenomenonisentirelyandabsolutelydeterminedineachidenticalsituationbytheconditionstowhichitisexposed;thiscanbeforeseenwithmathematicalcertaintyandprecision.Butwhenweconsiderlifeitselfinitsimperfect,ru
5、dimentarystate—eveninthosevegetablesaboutwhichitcannotbesaidpreciselyiftheyarelivingornotliving—newcharacteristicsappear.Herewecannotforeseemathematicallywhatwillhappen.Twoseedsplacedinthesamegroundandthatpresentthesameaspecttoscientificobservationwillnotbehaveinthesameway.Evensettingas
6、idethispoint(whichcouldinfactbecontested),wewillmaintainthatiftwoorganizedbeings,althoughidenticalinappearance,donotdevelopinthesameway,thatisbecausecertainconditions,whichwecannotperceivewithourmeansofobservation,exist.translation©BoardofRegents,UniversityofWisconsinSystem,200725SubSta
7、nce#114,Vol.36,no.3,200726HenriBergsonLetussetasidethisfirstpointandsimplylookatthegrowthordevelopmentofthelivingorganism;weseeatrulymarvellouscoordinationofelementsthattogetherseemtotendtowardasinglegoal,likethediversefunctionsofdigestion,circulationandrespirationthatharmonize
