Description
Book SynopsisIn Vestiges of a Philosophy: Matter, the Meta-Spiritual, and the Forgotten Bergson, John Ó Maoilearca examines the seemingly very different but nonetheless complementary ideas of philosopher Henri Bergson and his occultist sister, Mina Bergson (aka Moina Mathers), to tackle contemporary themes in current materialist philosophy, memory studies, and the relationship between mysticism and philosophy.
Trade ReviewIn this revelatory study of the intersecting interests of mystic Mina Bergson and her brother, philosopher Henri Bergson, Ó Maoilearca meticulously and cautiously tracks philosophical developments from nineteenth-century spiritualism to recent new materialism. In the process, he does no less than uncover occulture's and analytical philosophy's correlated investments in both spiritualism and materialism during the modernist period. This book will prove foundational to the study of modern mysticism as philosophical engagement and materialist analysis. * Dennis Denisoff, author of Decadent Ecology in British Literature and Art, 1860-1910: Decay, Desire, and the Pagan Revival *
Henri and Mina Bergson form one of the most enigmatic sibling duos of the fin-de-siècle. The unfamiliar reader might assume little common ground between the two—the former a highly respected philosopher, the latter a feminist occult leader largely unknown outside of specialist circles today. Exploring both siblings' thought in relation to the other and demonstrating their converging areas of interest, Ó Maoilearca offers a sophisticated, provocative, and beautifully crafted reconsideration of the relationship between Western esotericism and philosophy. A must-read for anyone seeking to understand the ambiguous position of mysticism and magic in the Western intellectual tradition. * Manon Hedenborg White, author of The Eloquent Blood: The Goddess Babalon and the Construction of Femininities in Western Esotericism *
Vestiges of a Philosophy performs its ideas with visionary urgency, as Ó Maoilearca sustains a diffractive reading of a vast array of sources—canonical works alongside obscure archival texts exhumed through meticulous archeology—that proposes conspicuous concordances between the thought of siblings Mina and Henri Bergson. The complex and exhilarating investigation significantly reconfigures the parallel Bergsonisms, contending with their strangeness and poetics, while aligning them with ideas of contemporary philosophy from Karen Barad and François Laruelle among others, in this volume's immaculate consideration of matter, memory, movement, and spirit. * Matthew Goulish, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago *
This interesting, unusual book straddles two worlds...This is a scholarly achievement,...Recommended. Graduate students through researchers and faculty. * Choice *
In this revelatory study of the intersecting interests of mystic Mina Bergson and her brother, philosopher Henri Bergson, Ó Maoilearca meticulously and cautiously tracks philosophical developments from nineteenth-century spiritualism to recent new materialism. In the process, he does no less than uncover occulture's and analytical philosophy's correlated investments in both spiritualism and materialism during the modernist period. This book will prove foundational to the study of modern mysticism as philosophical engagement and materialist analysis. * Dennis Denisoff, Author of Decadent Ecology in British Literature and Art, 1860-1910: Decay, Desire, and the Pagan Revival *
Henri and Mina Bergson form one of the most enigmatic sibling duos of the fin-de-siècle. The unfamiliar reader might assume little common ground between the two-the former a highly respected philosopher, the latter a feminist occult leader largely unknown outside of specialist circles today. Exploring both siblings' thought in relation to the other and demonstrating their converging areas of interest, Ó Maoilearca offers a sophisticated, provocative, and beautifully crafted reconsideration of the relationship between Western esotericism and philosophy. A must-read for anyone seeking to understand the ambiguous position of mysticism and magic in the Western intellectual tradition. * Manon Hedenborg White, Author of The Eloquent Blood: The Goddess Babalon and the Construction of Femininities in Western Esotericism *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Prologue: A Reciprocity of Acceleration Strange Memory: An Introduction in Five Parts 1° = 10° Zelator Covariant One: Ordinary Mysticism, the Hyperbolic, and the Supernormal Two: Meet the Bergsons 10° = 1° Ipsissimus Covariant (Neophyte) Three: Hyper-Ritual Four: "O My Bergson, You Are a Magician" Five: On Watery Logic, or Magical Thinking 2° = 9° Theoricus Covariant Six: Of the Survival of Images Seven: On the Meta-Spiritual 4° = 7° Philosophus Covariant Eight: Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum: "Leave No Trace" 3° = 8° Practicus Covariant Nine: Spirit in the Materialist World Ten: Veridical Hallucinations and Circumstantial Evidence Epilogue: The Whole of the Moon Bibliography Notes
