Creative Evolution

The author argues that evolution cannot be fully explained by mechanical or purely teleological accounts and proposes a vital impetus as a creative force guiding the diversification of life. He analyzes duration as an inner, qualitative time distinct from mathematical time and contends that intellect, formed to handle matter, misrepresents living processes. The text contrasts instinct, intelligence, and torpor as divergent evolutionary tendencies and examines how habit, variation, and heredity interplay in development. Later sections critique mechanistic and static philosophical systems, outline a theory of knowledge emphasizing intuition and the living order, and explore the relation between life, consciousness, and the emergence of intelligence.