Extract
[...] In fact, if the present constitutes the only real moment of existence of consciousness, it has the possibility of handling abstract notions such as the past and the present. This is why Bergson specifies that it is a matter of 'conservation and accumulation of the past in the present', because the mind is aware of the fact that the knowledge it acquires comes from its past experiences. However, this accumulation is, according to Bergson, the cause of a capacity to project itself into the future, that is, to deduce the existence of a future. [...]
[...] However, the philosopher himself notes that this clarification does not allow for the definition of the term 'consciousness' itself. Or the main difficulty that arises when we attempt to define consciousness is precisely that it seems to encompass everything, and it is this that Bergson highlights by noting that consciousness is 'constantly present to the experience of each of us'. In fact, there is no moment when we can say that we are currently - that is, at the present moment - unconscious. [...]
[...] Now, this is insensitive in the proper sense: nothing in us allows us to show the flow of the instant. Admittedly, we age, but this aging is imperceptible at the scale of the instant, which is why Bergson recalls that the instant "can be, strictly speaking, conceived, [but] it is never perceived". This theoretical assumption made by consciousness is only possible on the condition of the existence of a memory responsible for deducing the flow of time. As a result, consciousness constitutes for Bergson the place where the three dimensions of time meet, a prerequisite for any action project. [...]
[...] Yet, its definition continues to be a subject of reflection, and Bergson proposes a new approach in this regard based on the relationship between consciousness and life. Indeed, Bergson suggests the idea that consciousness, although difficult to define, can be partly described in terms of the interactions that beings endowed with consciousness can have with the world. Without resorting to comparison with the plant or animal world, Bergson thus analyzes the role of consciousness in the phenomenon of life. From this point of view, the philosopher emphasizes the primary role of memory in the very possibility of existence of a consciousness perceiving itself. [...]
[...] Conclusion Thus, this text by Bergson allows us to question the ability of conscious beings to grasp a concept as complex as the flow of time. In fact, it is because the mind is endowed with memory that a form of consciousness of being emerges from thought. As a result, although consciousness may seem difficult to define at first glance, as we said in the introduction, it can be characterized by what structures it: an ability to abstract the instant. [...]
