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Henri Bergson

From British Culture

1859-1941. French philosopher. Central and influential publications on time and laughter.


His doctoral thesis Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness introduces the concept of durée (duration). For Bergson duration is not linear. An individual may perceive time differently. If you are busy or absorbed in thought time may gain speed, but if you are bored time may slow down. It is your mind that does not work in a linear way, past and present intersect, the individual stands between now and then.

Sources:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bergson/