Nuance and tension: a study of Bergson's idea of intensity

The thesis examines the theory of intensity and affectivity which is presented in Bergson's first work, Time and Free Will, in conjunction with the major topics and problems that arise from Bergson's study of sensibility and mark the transition from his first to his second major work, Matter and Memory. The main problems that are examined comprise the critique of the measurement of sensations, the relationship between intensity and multiplicity, the problem of nuance and degree, the relationship between psychic tension and effort in the experience of freedom and finally the relationship between representative and affective sensation. The thesis aims to provide an account of the transition between TFW and MM through a thorough study of the problem of intensity. This aim is pursued in a twofold direction: the conceptual transformation that led to the genesis of the concept of tension and the emergence of the psycho-physiological problem out of the investigation of the intensity of psychic states.