Reconciling élan vital with human destructiveness can be complex, as Bergson’s concept primarily emphasizes life as a creative and evolving force. However, we can approach the reconciliation in a few ways by considering how creativity and destruction are often intertwined in both philosophy and life.
1. Creativity as a Dual Force: Élan vital drives not only growth and innovation but also transformation. In life, creative processes often involve destruction or dismantling of the old to make way for the new. Destructive human behaviors, from this perspective, might not entirely contradict élan vital but could be seen as part of a larger, transformative cycle. For example, revolutions, wars, or crises often lead to significant social, cultural, or technological shifts, embodying destruction as a prelude to new creation.
2. Human Freedom and Choice: Bergson placed great importance on human freedom and creativity. Human beings, in his view, are capable of channeling the élan vital in many directions, including both constructive and destructive paths. The force itself may not dictate the moral quality of its expression—it is neutral in this regard. It’s human agency that determines whether the creative impulse is used for life-affirming or destructive purposes. Thus, human destructiveness reflects a misuse of the élan vital rather than an inherent contradiction within the force itself.
3. Tension Between Instinct and Intellect: Bergson also argued that human life is caught between instinct and intellect. Instinct is closer to the vital force, while intellect is what often leads to technological advancement, rationality, and, paradoxically, tools of destruction. Human destructiveness may arise from an over-reliance on intellect, divorced from the life-affirming, instinctual energy of élan vital. In this sense, human destructiveness could represent a divergence from the true creative potential of life, where intellect subverts rather than complements the creative energy.
4. Philosophical Affirmation of Life: Philosophers who affirm life, like Nietzsche or Rollo May (whom you’re interested in), often argue that destruction can be part of a larger process of overcoming and becoming. Nietzsche’s concept of the will to power, for example, involves destruction as a necessary phase in personal and cultural growth. In a similar way, élan vital could be interpreted as acknowledging that creation often requires destruction, not in a nihilistic sense, but as part of life’s dynamic and creative process.
Thus, élan vital and human destructiveness can be reconciled by understanding destruction not as a contradiction to life, but as an aspect of life’s broader creative and evolutionary process. It’s the human responsibility to direct this force toward constructive rather than destructive ends.
