Bergson--Spirit, Form, Matter

Though the relation between Spirit and Form has rarely been a topic of Philosophical examination, that they are each often presented as the antithesis of Matter suggests that the relation must be intimate. Bergson, for one, proposes that Form is Spirit in its interaction with Matter, and that Form, upon interruption, becomes Matter, thereby proving that Matter is congealed Spirit. In one of his examples, the drawing of a line is a mobile Formative process, which, when halted, is observed to have left in its wake Matter, i. e. an immobile line. Now, this drawing-drawn relation has been regarded by others as significant, e. g. Spinoza's naturing-natured and Schopenhauer's Will-objectification contrasts seem analogous. But, Bergson's interpretation of it as one of Form-Matter is questionable. For, the process of drawing a line is a shaping of lead, ink, or paint, so, one of them, not the line, is the 'Matter' of the example, and this Matter is contemporaneous with the 'Formative' drawing motion, not subsequent to it, the result of the halting of it. Hence, as an attempt to prove that Matter is congealed Spirit, the example backfires on Bergson. Furthermore, treating Form as a surrogate for Spirit only transposes the more fundamental problem with that thesis--it fails to explain how a monistic, intrinsically dynamic principle such as Spirit comes to relax, let alone cease movement, to begin with. Instead, the example reinforces the counter-thesis that Matter is an independent, complementary principle to Spirit or Form.