CONF: "Bergson's CREATIVE EVOLUTION, 100 Years On: Biology, Ecology, Complexity," Department of Philosophy, University of Warwick, November 10, 2007.

Our conference on Henri Bergson's Creative Evolution will take place on Saturday the 10th of November at the University of Warwick. Although the work of a philosopher, its reaches are far wider. Bergson not only pleaded for evolution as a field of interdisciplinary study, in fact this work is itself part of it. The book is deeply infused with what were then the latest developments in evolution, Lamarckism, neo-Darwinism and cytology. Published one hundred years ago in 1907, Creative Evolution presented a sophisticated alternative to mechanistic evolutionary theory, greatly expanding the field of biological research beyond the neo-Darwinian emphasis on genetics. This pioneering yet neglected text opened the way for the development of both ecology and complexity theory during the twentieth century. It emphasized the importance of studying the evolution of ecosystems as well as individual species and it developed a general model of the emergence and self-organization of living systems. Speaking at the conference are all people with both a strong interest in Bergson and the natural sciences. The conference is grouped around the three central themes of Biology, Ecology and Complexity. Rather than having a number of quite separate presentations the speakers have been actively encouraged to discuss each other's texts. Speaking at the conference: Keith Ansell Pearson (University of Warwick) Paul-Antoine Miquel (University of Nice) Miguel De Bestegui (University of Warwick) Pete Gunter (University of North Texas) John Pickering (University of Warwick) Brian Goodwin (Schumacher College) Robin Durie (University of Exeter) For more information and to register please follow the link below: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/news/creativeevolution2007/.