the philosophy of Bergson, which maintains that there is an original life force (élan vital) that is carried through all successive generations and that is the substance of consciousness and nature
See Bergsonism in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(bĕrgˈsə-nĭzˌəm)
noun
The philosophy of Henri Bergson, which asserts that the flow of time personally experienced is free and unrestricted rather than measured on a clock and contends that all living forms arise from a persisting natural force, the élan vital.