Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness

Henri Bergson's "Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness" explores the nature of time and its relationship to human consciousness and free will. Bergson distinguishes between two types of time: clock time (spatialized, measurable, and divisible) and duration, which is lived, qualitative, and continuous. He argues that our common understanding of time, influenced by science and spatial metaphors, fails to capture the essence of our inner experience.

Bergson posits that true freedom lies in duration, where our choices emerge from the entirety of our past experiences and personality, rather than being predetermined by external factors or a mechanistic view of cause and effect. This contrasts with determinism, the idea that all events are causally inevitable. Bergson's work emphasizes the subjective, lived experience of time and consciousness as the foundation for understanding genuine free will.123