Matyáš Moravec (QUB), 'Private Doors and Precognitions: The Influence of Henri Bergson on Arthur Eddington and John William Dunne’

My paper will explore the influence that Henri Bergson’s (1859-1941) philosophy of time exerted on two neglected early twentieth-century British philosophers: Arthur Eddington (1882-1944) and John William Dunne (1875-1949). I demonstrate that the central claims of Bergson’s account of temporal experience significantly shaped their philosophies of time and the way they thought about the future and the passage of time. My talk will also suggest reasons why Eddington and Dunne should be taken seriously by historians of philosophy despite the purported “anti-scientism” of Eddington’s philosophy of time and the “charlatanism” of Dunne (specifically, his belief in precognitive dreams, telepathy, and a theory of time suggesting we can train ourselves to have cognitive access to the future). I will conclude by linking the role Dunne’s and Eddington’s “anti-scientism” and “charlatanism” played both in their own disappearance from the philosophical stage and in the disappearance of Bergson and subjective experience of time from the history of 20^th-century philosophy.

Contact Suzanne Whitten (suzanne.whitten@qub.ac.uk) for link.