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In the Introduction to Metaphysics, metaphysics is defined as "that science which claims to dispense with symbols." Bergson contends that the human mind operates discursively, or by taking snapshots of reality as frozen instances of time. The continuing flow and rhythm of duration can only be grasped intuitively, not intellectually—real becoming stifles our minds. While performing analysis through this “spatializing of time” as science does, it appears we have to rely upon diagrams or symbols as a “fixing of images.” Bergson contrasts this notion of science with “immediate knowledge” as an attempt to overcome the “contradictions and problems [that] are mainly the result of the symbolic diagrams which cover it up, diagrams which have for us become reality itself, and beyond which only an intense and unusual effort can succeed in penetrating” (Matter and Memory, 245). A similar sentiment is expressed about symbols in regards to the usual treatment of space as a medium between matter and perception, labeled the “prejudices of action.” If “homogeneous space” is taken in the traditional sense of standing “between the two terms like an insurmountable barrier, [it] is then seen to have no other reality than that of a diagram or a symbol” (MM, 293). So I am interested in this question and the related horizon of what is the task of philosophy given the symbolism that we create for ourselves?

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for context much of Bergson's work in Introduction to Metaphysics is in response to the metaphysics of Kant, and his view of the impossibility of knowing things in themselves. True knowledge for Bergson is attainable, but it is distinct from everyday significations, and is closer to a 'merging with the thing in itself' through what he described using his notion of 'intuition' – Dr Sister Aug 20 '12 at 6:44
We're incredibly good at tasks like motion estimation in smooth pursuit, where "frozen instances in time" seem exactly the wrong thing to do. Either he doesn't mean what I think he means, or his premises are confused. – Rex Kerr Aug 20 '12 at 10:54
i agree, it could be reformulated, maybe something along the lines of (if i understand correctly?) if a systematic abstract formulation of reality is really an obfuscation of the nature of truth, what then is the task of philosophy? – Dr Sister Aug 20 '12 at 17:34

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