Henri Bergson
Mysticism, Technology and a Philosophy for the Future
with J.F. Martel
An online weekend seminar
Two sessions, hosted on Saturday, April 11
This class will be recorded and made available to registrants
In this new, two-part Mutations seminar, J.F. Martel invites students to participate in a philosophical deep-dive of Henri Bergson’s final work, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion.
While lesser known than his earlier texts like Matter and Memory and Creative Evolution, Bergson’s late philosophical contribution has become more relevant than ever. Two Sources outlines an evolution of human consciousness, describing the transformative emergence of “open” forms of morality out of “closed” ones, and “dynamic” forms of religion out of “static.” For Bergson, it is the mystic who traces a line of flight into new planetary futures, not by rejecting modernity’s problematic relationship with techne, but through the realization that technology and mysticism are, in reality, one thing.
Joseph Wright of Derby, “The Blacksmith’s Shop,” 1771.
If we are not to be undone by the machines of our own making, we can’t afford to merely stand against them. “But where the danger grows,” Holderlin writes, “ there grows the saving power also,” and so as the machines of progress hurdle civilization into the catastrophic horizon of planetization, the great task for humanity lies in the achievement of an “open technology.” In a word, Bergson’s final work asserts a mysticism of the machine.
In a time when techno-billionaires gleefully hasten the arrival of artificial intelligence and proclaim the end of humanity, it may sound counterintuitive to embrace Bergson’s techno-mysticism. Yet, as Martel will argue over the course of two sessions, it is precisely when it appears less true than ever that we must come to believe it more than ever. In the danger, the saving.
Think of Mysticism, Technology, and a Philosophy for the Future as a kind of philosophical back-leap into Bergson’s oeuvre. In that sense, it is intended to serve as one of the more unique introductions to his thought, while also offering compelling and relevant insights for seasoned readers and academics. All participation is welcome, and there is no pre-requisite reading.
Our class is hosted on Zoom and convenes over the course of two sessions on Saturday, April 11 beginning at 9:30 am PT / 12:30 pm ET. Each session is 90 minutes, with time allotted for Q&A. Session recordings will be posted and made available for all registrants.
Schedule:
Session I - 9:30 am PT / 12:30 pm ET
Lunch Break [One Hour] - 11 am PT / 2 pm ET
Session II - 12 pm PT / 3 pm ET
Registration: $60
Already on the Mutations network? Register right here.
Student registration rates available - send us a note for the link.
“So let us not merely say… that the body, now larger, calls for a bigger soul, and that mechanism should mean mysticism. The origins of the process of mechanization are indeed more mystical than we might imagine.”
- Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion
About Your Instructor
J.F. Martel is a Canadian writer, lecturer, and podcaster. He is the author of Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, co-host of Weird Studies podcast and the Weirdosphere learning community, and a seasoned lecturer at Mutations.