UDC: 123.1; 141.319.8
https://doi.org/10.25198/2077-7175-2026-5-119


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THE PROBLEM OF FREE WILL IN NON-CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHY: A. SCHOPENHAUER AND H. BERGSON

B. L. Nediak1, I. I. Evlampiev2
Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
1 e-mail: bogdan.nediak@yandex.ru
2 e-mail: yevlampiev@mail.ru

Abstract. The problem of free will has remained one of the most complex and controversial throughout the history of philosophy. In the classical tradition, freedom was most often reduced either to the external possibility of performing a desired action or to a conscious necessity, one way or another subordinated to the principle of determinism. In the non-classical philosophy of the 19th and 20th centuries, a radical revision of these ideas took place. The aim of this study is to reveal the evolution of the understanding of free will in non-classical philosophy through a comparative analysis of the concepts of A. Schopenhauer and H. Bergson. The work shows how Schopenhauer’s determinism, which denies freedom in empirical actions and acts of will, develops into an ontological justification of freedom as a fundamental property of the individual. The methodological basis of the study is a historical and philosophical reconstruction and comparative analysis of key texts of these thinkers. The authors consistently traces how Schopenhauer, transfers freedom to the pre-temporal metaphysical act of self-determination of the single World Will, which results in the formation of the unchanging empirical character of man. Freedom, according to Schopenhauer, belongs not to actions or even to individual desires, but to the essence of the individual itself. Particular attention is paid to the creative development of this idea in Henri Bergson. By introducing the central concept of duration (la durée) as the true reality and the Absolute in which consciousness is rooted, Bergson transforms freedom into the constantly actualized creative spontaneity of the deep «I». Unlike Schopenhauer, Bergson’s freedom is presented not as a single act of individual choice, but as the continuous possibility of returning to the integrity of one’s self in the living flow of duration. The scientific novelty of this study lies in its comprehensive comparison of Schopenhauer’s and Bergson’s concepts as two key stages in the development of the non-classical paradigm of freedom.

Key words: free will, determinism, Schopenhauer, Bergson, empirical character, creative spontaneity of consciousness.

Cite as: Nediak, B. L., Evlampiev, I. I. (2026) [The problem of free will in non-classical philosophy: A. Schopenhauer and H. Bergson]. Intellekt. Innovacii. Investicii [Intellect. Innovations. Investments]. Vol. 5, pp. 119–129. – https://doi.org/10.25198/2077-7175-2026-5-119.


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