t i Professor Lindsay on 



important ethical inferences, as ir laid stress upon action rather 

 than upon thought, holding that man was made in order to act as 

 much as, or more than, in order to think. It inculcated the 

 far-reaching principle that in every act of consciousness they 

 carried their whole past mental life with them. To characterise 

 the Eergson philosophy in brief — it was evolutionary, vitalistic, 

 spiritual, libertarian, pragmatist. It was a rebound from Scientific 

 Monism and Scientific Determinism. 



The President then proceeded to deal at length with the 

 Bergson philosophy from three points of view— first, its theory regard- 

 ing matter, mind, and consciousness; second, its theory of life; and 

 third, its ethical inferences. In conclusion he said he did not pro- 

 pose to attempt any detailed critical appraisement of Bergson's 

 philosophy. He doubted his competency for the task, and in any 

 case much time, thought, and discussion would be required before 

 its permanent value could be determined. No one would deny that 

 it was a stimulating and suggestive scheme, or that its author was an 

 accomplished and acute thinker, whose works combined in a rare 

 degree philosophic acumen and literary charm. 'Jliere were some 

 to whom this philosophy would seem little more than an attempt 

 to reintroduce the old idols under a new alias. Others, profoundly 

 dissatisfied with modes of philosophy which regarded the universe 

 as a huge machine, working solely under physico-chemical laws 

 and man as no more than a conscious automaton, would welcome 

 a fresh stream of thought which sought to revivify the arid places 

 of physical and biological science. Others again, while hesitating 

 to follow Bergson in his flights through the abysses of speculation, 

 would accept the challenge to restate the old problems in fresh 

 terms, and to examine the old enigmas from a new point of view. 

 In a passage of "The Critique of Pure Reason" Kant remarked 

 that " It is a great and essential proof of cleverness or insight to 

 know how to ask reasonable questions." Many philosophical 

 paradoxes bewildered the reason and admitted of no solution 

 because the problem was wrongly stated. Bergson seemed to him 



