A monumental work by an important modern philosopher, Matter and Memory (1896) represents one of the great inquiries into perception and memory, movement and time, matter and mind. Nobel Prize-winner Henri Bergson surveys these independent but related spheres, exploring the connection of mind and body to individual freedom of choice. Bergson's efforts to reconcile the facts of biology to a theory of consciousness offered a challenge to the mechanistic view of nature, and his philosophy can be regarded as a forerunner to later developments in relativity theory and conceptions of mental process. His original and innovative views exercised a profound influence on other philosophers -- including James, Whitehead, and Santayana -- as well as novelists such as Dos Passos and Proust. Essential to an understanding of Bergson's philosophy and its legacy, Matter and Memory is among Dover's Philosophical Classics. A collection of the major works in Western and Eastern philosophy, this new series ranges from ancient Greece to modern times. Its low-priced, high-quality, unabridged editions are ideal for teachers and students as well as for other readers.