ABSTRACT
Bergson's choice of language pathology as a means of demonstrating the empirical relevance of his general viewpoint was not accidental. The perception of speech is a phenomenon that resists satisfactory explanation in the context of classical psychological theory. Bergson's earliest major work relating to psychology proper, with the exception of a paper on hypnotism. For Bergson, those models formed an integral part of his broader vision of psychological and physical reality. For the contemporary psychologist, construction of these models was principally dictated by the inefficiency of traditional theories to account for well-defined perceptual phenomena. The mere fact of this conceptual "convergent evolution' enhances the appeal of these models and confers an aura of prophetic quality to Bergson's work. In the context of Bergson's theory, qualities are neither extensionless sensations, nor the results of a radical transformation effected by the brain.
