The third short writing assignment is to examine carefully one of the metaphors offered by Bergson to elucidate the vital impulse in the reading “Life as Creative Change.” It should be only about one page (roughly between 350 and 500 words). Please submit your assignment on LearnUs as either a pdf or Word file.
Here are the specific tasks:
1. Choose either the example of the hand passing through iron filings (the relevant paragraph begins “With greater precision…”) or the painted figure on canvas (the relevant paragraph begins “In general, when the same object appears…”). Identify as clearly as possible what Bergson’s main purpose is in introducing your chosen example.
2. Explain how the example illustrates Bergson’s main purpose in introducing the example. In particular, connect the example to key Bergsonian concepts, especially vital impulse and duration—but not only these! Also, exhibit both a mechanistic and as well as a finalistic interpretation of the example, detailing why these interpretations are mechanistic and finalistic in nature.
