Um desvio do sentido: o primitivo e o civilizado em Bergson.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how in his last book Bergson moves away from the meaning assigned to the condition of civilized and primitive both in the common sense and in the science of his time. I intend therefore to show that the philosopher is successful in deviating from the meanings thus crystalized by the language only if, wriggling from the strict circumscription of certain fields of knowledge, he dares to operate a methodological transgression which, beyond scientific objectivity, at the same time carries out an effort of introspection and contemplates the perspective more general of life. By doing so, there appears the notion of "fabling function" that comes to reveal an archaic dimension of the primitive which not only persists in the civilized but that ultimately turns into one of the elements that makes the survival of the species viable. Furthermore, it will be seen that, according to Bergson, attributes generally associated with the development of civilization and to the contemporary Western man are equally experienced by the so-called primitives or uncivilized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]