Rethinking Politeness with Henri Bergson

Rethinking Politeness with Henri Bergson offers the first English translation of a little-known essay by influential French philosopher Henri Bergson on the classifications of politeness acts. The translation is followed by a series of essays from scholars who critically engage with and build on Bergson's ideas, and recontextualize politeness as a key dimension of human sociability.

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In 1885, Henri Bergson addressed a class of French high school students on the subject of politeness. Bergson would go on to become one of the most influential philosophers of his time, yet although this essay set forth a striking theory of politeness and foreshadowed aspects of his later work, it remains remarkably little-known. Rethinking Politeness with Henri Bergson offers the first English translation of Discours sur la Politesse, and brings together leading linguistic anthropologists to critically engage with and expand on Bergson's ideas.

At the core of Bergson's essay is a tripartite classification of politeness acts into politesse des manières ("politeness of manners"), politesse de l'esprit ("politeness of mind/spirit"), and politesse du coeur ("politeness of the heart"). Presented along a hierarchy of intersubjective attunement and ethical aspirations, Bergson's three types call for the progressive abandonment of habits when they get in the way of our ability to help others. They can also be read as an invitation to consider politeness as a dimension of human sociability that is relevant to social theory. Collectively, the essays in this volume untangle the ideological, socio-historical, and material conditions that shape notions of the ideal social agent, and propose a rethinking of politeness that serves as a bridge to larger issues of civility, citizenship, and democracy.