| 释义 |
‖ élan vital|elɑ̃ vital|
[Fr. (H. Bergson L'Évolution créatrice (1907) iii. 276); see élan.]
In the philosophy of Henri Bergson (1859–1941), a vital impulse or life force, of which we are aware intuitively; spec., an original impetus of life supposed to have brought about the variations which during the course of evolution produced new species; a creative principle found in all living beings. Hence gen., any mysterious vital principle.
1907W. James Let. to Bergson 13 June (1920) II. 292 The élan vital, all contentless and vague as you are obliged to leave it, will be an easy substitute to make fun of. 1912G. B. Shaw Let. 8 Dec. (1952) 61 Your illness..is a trap of the Life Force—the Élan Vital. 1926J. S. Huxley Ess. Biologist i. 33 Bergson..ascribes it [sc. biological progress] to his élan vital... But to say that biological progress is explained by the élan vital is to say that the movement of a train is ‘explained’ by an élan locomotif of the engine. 1938L. MacNeice Mod. Poetry i. 18 The élan vital of Whitman or of Lawrence. 1959Listener 28 May 937/1 No other theory as to the basic mechanism of evolution (Lamarckism, orthogenesis, élan vital, etc.) is consonant with the facts of general biology. 1962Ibid. 20 Dec. 1062/2 The élan vital? A complete red herring, Dr. Crick asserted; biologists just didn't ask questions like that any more. |