THE DISTANCE BETWEEN JOHN LOCKE AND HENRI BERGSON:
HOW TO RELATE EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7443/problemata.v17i3.77682Keywords:
Knowledge, experience, science, reasonAbstract
John Locke wrote the An Essay Concerning Human Understanding seeking to trace the path of possibilities for understanding during the height of the scientific revolution, while Henri Bergson, 200 years later, wrote The Creative Evolution seeking to draw a clear distinction between philosophical and scientific knowledge. In fact, this is a scenario of comparison in which we can observe very different conceptions of legitimate knowledge of reality, reflecting the valuation of specific types of knowledge according to the legitimation of demonstrative rational knowledge or, on the other hand, a metaphysical intuition. Given this, this article aims to address the root of the divergence between these epistemological projects, examining both their assumptions and objectives, and considering the existence of a common point (namely, the valorization of experience) whose limits will be investigated. Based on this investigation, we will draw attention to the important question of the philosophical relationship between experience and knowledge.
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