Abstract

This chapter examines the topicality of Bergson's philosophy of evolution. Because of his rejection of Darwinism, his scientific approximations and his metaphorical style, Bergson was never truly considered a philosopher of science. Biologists as philosophers of biology no longer refer to Bergson since the second half of the twentieth century, i.e., the advent of the Modern Synthesis. At best Bergson's poetic talents are praised, but rarely the penetration of his intuitions. In this text, this qualification that defines Bergson as a poet is taken seriously. The status of the Bergsonian images, and more specifically the status of the élan vital, is analysed. It is argued that the élan vital is less a literary image than a true "fluid concept", whose heuristic scope is brought to light today through the discoveries and problems raised by contemporary biology.