Matter and Memory
Quick Summary
Henri Bergson's Matter and Memory (1896) explores the relationship between the mind and body. Bergson argued against psychophysiological parallelism, the idea that every mental event has a corresponding physiological event that determines it. He used the study of aphasia, the loss of language ability, to support his theory. Bergson contended that aphasia demonstrates that memory itself is not lost, but rather the bodily mechanism to express it is impaired. This led him to conclude that memory, and thus the mind or soul, is independent of the body and utilizes it for its purposes. This work marked a significant step in Bergson's rise to prominence as a philosopher.1
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