TRANSLATOR'S NOTE 



In the writing of this English translation of Professor 

 Bergson's most important work, I was helped by the friendly 

 interest of Professor William James, to whom I owe the 

 illumination of much that was dark to me as well as the 

 happy rendering of certain words and phrases for which 

 an English equivalent was difficult to find. His sym- 

 pathetic appreciation of Professor Bergson's thought is 

 well known, and he has expressed his admiration for it 

 in one of the chapters of A Pluralistic Universe. It was 

 his intention, had he lived to see the completion of this 

 translation, himself to introduce it to English readers 

 in a prefatory note. 



I wish to thank my friend, Dr. George Clarke Cox, for 

 many valuable suggestions. 



I have endeavored to follow the text as closely as 

 possible, and at the same time to preserve the living union 

 of diction and thought. Professor Bergson has himself 

 carefully revised the whole work. We both of us wish 

 to acknowledge the great assistance of Miss Millicent Murby. 

 She has kindly studied the translation phrase by phrase, 

 weighing each word, and her revision has resulted in many 

 improvements. 



But above all we must express our acknowledgment 

 to Mr. H. Wildon Carr, the Honorary Secretary of the 



