From the Unconscious to the Conscious 



The answers to these two propositions are by no 

 means established. 



It is clear that all men of genius, all inventors, all 

 the great minds which have added something new to 

 human resources, were intuitive by nature. 



But intuition cannot be reserved to philosophy. It 

 belongs to many departments of life philosophical, 

 artistic, industrial, and scientific. Science depends on 

 intuition as much as on reasoning. The great scientific 

 discoveries existed in the understanding of men of 

 genius before being adapted to the facts and shown to 

 be true. There is as much intuition in the genius of 

 a Newton or a Pasteur, as in that of a great metaphysician. 



The distinction, and the only distinction, between 

 philosophical and scientific method, is that men of 

 science keep as much as possible within the limits of 

 fact and take as their criterion concordance with facts 

 or with rational inferences ; whilst philosophers, although 

 endeavouring to keep their intuitions in accord with 

 facts, sometimes allow themselves to propose bold 

 hypotheses which go beyond them. 



This, and no more, is exactly what Bergson has 

 done. 



I know very well that some persons see in the 

 ' Bergsonian intuition ' something heretofore unpub- 

 lished to the world. I humbly avow that I do not 

 comprehend the discussions which have arisen on this 

 matter between the partisans and the antagonists of M. 

 Bergson, and I even find them tedious. 



It is well to bring out clearly that this * new * method 

 which consists in putting intuition in contrast with 

 reason and in referring to the former the sole origin 

 of philosophic truths, has previously been definitely 

 claimed and severely criticised, just as it is to-day. 



' An endeavour is being made to smuggle 

 palpable sophisms in place of proofs ; appeal is made 



174 



