Élan Vital Revisited: B ergson and the Thermodynamic Paradigm

The received view of B ergson's philosophy of life is that it advances some form of vitalism under the heading of an “ élan vital .” This paper argues against the vitalistic interpretation of B ergson's élan vital as it appears in C reative E volution (1907) in favor of an interpretation based on his overlooked reflections on entropy and energetics. Within the interpretation developed here, the élan vital is characterized not as a spiritualistic “vital force” but as a tendency of organization opposed to the tendency of entropic degradation. It is then shown how B ergson's view of evolution and living organization resonates with more contemporary scientific approaches belonging to a “thermodynamic paradigm” in theoretical biology in different respects, including the critique of neo‐ D arwinism and the positing of a driving force behind evolution. Finally, the special interest that B ergson's philosophical biology bears today is considered in terms of the connection between the concepts of élan vital and duration.