Einstein–Bergson debate

On April 6, 1922, the physicist Albert Einstein and the philosopher Henri Bergson met at the Société française de philosophie and debated the implications of the theory of relativity on the nature of time. Bergson argued that while relativity is valid within the domain of physics, it cannot account for duration [la durée], or time as it is actually lived and experienced, and that philosophy still has indispensable contributions to make beyond what science can offer. Einstein rejected this, drawing a sharp distinction between physical and psychological time and dismissing any intermediate philosophical category, famously remarking: "The time of the philosophers does not exist" (French: Il n'y a donc pas un temps des philosophes). The exchange, and the broader discussion it triggered, has had wide-ranging implications for Western cosmology and for the prestige of the humanities as compared to science. In 1934, Paul Valéry wrote that the meeting between these two thinkers was the "grande affaire" of the twentieth century.