Language:
English
Year of publication:
1997
Titel der Quelle:
Journal of Dharma
Angaben zur Quelle:
22,3 (1997) 225-246
Keywords:
Bergson, Henri,
Abstract:
In the last years of his life, Henri Bergson (1859-1941) became close to Catholicism but he refused to be converted, as seen in his last will and testament dated 8 February 1937. In 1940, in the Vichy period, the French philosopher voluntarily registered as a Jew, despite an exemption made for certain individuals by the regime. Postwar biographers of Bergson state that his reluctance to be baptized stemmed from his sense of solidarity with the persecuted Jews of Europe. Contends that Bergson's real motive was to protest against antisemitism. Catholic writers shifted the stress in their explanation of Bergson's motives because of the persistent anti-Judaism in the Catholic Church and their reluctance to admit that a considerable part of French society had supported the Vichy regime.
Note:
An abridged Polish version appeared in "BZIH" 190 (1999).
URL:
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