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Definition of élan vital
1. Noun. (biology) a hypothetical force (not physical or chemical) once thought by Henri Bergson to cause the evolution and development of organisms.
Category relationships: Biological Science, Biology
Generic synonyms: Force
Derivative terms: Vital
Definition of élan vital
1. Noun. The life force or vital principle posited in the philosophy of Henri Bergson; any mysterious or creative vital principle. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of élan Vital
Literary usage of élan vital
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Adolescent Girl: A Study from the Psychoanalytic Viewpoint by Phyllis Mary Blanchard (1920)
"... Schelling's evolutionary interpretation, Schopenhauer's will-to-live, Von
Hartmann's unconscious, Bergson's elan vital, Freud's theory of the libido, ..."
2. The Britannica Year Book by Hugh Chisholm (1913)
"(It follows, of course, that determinism is false as regards that special
manifestation of the elan vital which we call will, or choice. ..."
3. The Social Philosophy of Instinct by Charles Conant Josey (1922)
"They are differentiations of the Elan Vital, which have directed the course of
evolution. They are obscure directive powers, which watch over the ..."
4. The Bookman's Manual: A Guide to Literature by Bessie Graham (1921)
"He announces a new theory of the universe which is that evolution is due to a
force which he calls the "elan vital," "vital energy." This "elan vital ..."
5. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease by American Neurological Association, Philadelphia Neurological Society, Chicago Neurological Society, New York Neurological Association, Boston Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (1915)
"Reality exists only in the elan vital. All the data of experience wherein ...
While multiplicity arises in this unreality, unity is found in the elan vital. ..."
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