ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the main concept from Bergson’s Two Sources: closed and open societies. It emphasizes that this concept is not used to describe two different kinds of society – as if there were closed societies on the one hand and open societies on the other – but to examine tendencies towards closure and openness in all societies, past, present, and future. Through an analysis of the concept of closed and open societies, the chapter sets out an accessible overview of Bergson’s moral, social, political, and religious thought. It also emphasizes the special relevance of Two Sources for our own day and age.
