Bergson's concept was more a vertical openness to the ground of being or the transcendent. Popper's openness was primarily within the framework of secular liberalism; it was a horizontal openness to the experimental trial and error method. As one commentator remarks, Bergson's openess was centered on his "theocentric humanism," whereas Popper's was based on his "anthropocentric humanism" (Germino 1974, p. 14).
For Bergson, the primitive closed society attached strict obligations to custom and operated under the rules of "Authority, Hierarchy, and Immobility." It was war-like, dominated by a religious dogma, and controlled by an elite. Bergson envisioned the open society as an ideal yet to be wholly realized. Although the spread of Western values in the process of globalization may approximate his vision, it is important to note that Bergson's open society went beyond material and political conditions. Central to his conception was a spiritual openness to the rhythm of the cosmos and the interrelatedness of life. One way to sum up Bergson's account of closed and open societies is to see the former as emphasizing impersonal orders as the source of morality, whereas the latter emphasizes the source of morality found in "appeals made to the conscience of each of us by persons who represent the best there is in humanity" (1935, p.
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