How long does it take to read Time and Free Will?
an essay on the immediate data of consciousness
Henri Bergson, Frank Lubecki Pogson
Time and Free Will by Henri Bergson, Frank Lubecki Pogson takes about 4 hours 37 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 4 hours 37 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1889. 252 pages, about 69,300 words.
10 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 7 hours 42 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 4 hours 37 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 2 hours 53 minutes |
The page count is the median across 71 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Bergson proposes a theory of time and freedom. Considered an influence on the French New Wave filmmakers, and a philosopher interested in humor and creativity, Bergson's works are generally a little awkward in translation (originals in French), but are well worth the effort. Bergson's basic argument here is that we (in literate Western cultures generally) use ideas and images associated with space to think about time, clocks and calendars as obvious examples. He says this tends to limit spontaneity and creativity in the present, because we are always using familiar images and expectations to confront the new, and we tend to think of moments in time as hardened rather than fluid as they are. This reviewer found this book to be life-changing, particularly to the degree it echoes some aspects of Eastern philosophies, psychologists interested in the experience of time, and even contemporary cultural critics like Marshal McLuhan.
Subjects: Consciousness, Free will and determinism, Space and time, Theory of Knowledge, Conscience, Espace et temps
