Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Nature

Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Nature PDF Author: Ted Toadvine
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810125986
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
In our time, Ted Toadvine observes, the philosophical question of nature is almost entirely forgotten—obscured in part by a myopic focus on solving "environmental problems" without asking how these problems are framed. But an "environmental crisis," existing as it does in the human world of value and significance, is at heart a philosophical crisis. In this book, Toadvine demonstrates how Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology has a special power to address such a crisis—a philosophical power far better suited to the questions than other modern approaches, with their over-reliance on assumptions drawn from the natural sciences. The book examines key moments in the development of Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of nature while roughly following the historical sequence of his major works. Toadvine begins by setting out an ontology of nature proposed in Merleau-Ponty’s first book, The Structure of Behavior. He takes up the theme of the expressive role of reflection in Phenomenology of Perception, as it negotiates the area between nature’s own "self-unfolding" and human subjectivity. Merleau-Ponty’s notion of "intertwining" and his account of space provide a transition to Toadvine’s study of the philosopher’s later work—in which the concept of "chiasm," the crossing or intertwining of sense and the sensible, forms the key to Merleau-Ponty’s mature ontology—and ultimately to the relationship between humans and nature.

Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Nature

Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Nature PDF Author: Ted Toadvine
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810125986
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 188

Get Book

Book Description
In our time, Ted Toadvine observes, the philosophical question of nature is almost entirely forgotten—obscured in part by a myopic focus on solving "environmental problems" without asking how these problems are framed. But an "environmental crisis," existing as it does in the human world of value and significance, is at heart a philosophical crisis. In this book, Toadvine demonstrates how Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology has a special power to address such a crisis—a philosophical power far better suited to the questions than other modern approaches, with their over-reliance on assumptions drawn from the natural sciences. The book examines key moments in the development of Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of nature while roughly following the historical sequence of his major works. Toadvine begins by setting out an ontology of nature proposed in Merleau-Ponty’s first book, The Structure of Behavior. He takes up the theme of the expressive role of reflection in Phenomenology of Perception, as it negotiates the area between nature’s own "self-unfolding" and human subjectivity. Merleau-Ponty’s notion of "intertwining" and his account of space provide a transition to Toadvine’s study of the philosopher’s later work—in which the concept of "chiasm," the crossing or intertwining of sense and the sensible, forms the key to Merleau-Ponty’s mature ontology—and ultimately to the relationship between humans and nature.

Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy

Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy PDF Author: Lawrence Hass
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253351197
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
A clear and comprehensive introduction to the thought of French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Phenomenology of Perception

Phenomenology of Perception PDF Author: Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
ISBN: 9788120813465
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 494

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Book Description
Buddhist philosophy of Anicca (impermanence), Dukkha (suffering), and

Merleau-Ponty between Philosophy and Symbolism

Merleau-Ponty between Philosophy and Symbolism PDF Author: Rajiv Kaushik
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438476779
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
Merleau-Ponty says in his Institution and Passivity lectures that he wants to "consider criticism itself as a symbolic form" instead of doing "a philosophy of symbolic form." This invites the possibility of an unconventional thought: If critical philosophy is a symbolic form, it cannot disclose its own limits and is, in fact, uncritical. Furthermore, the symbolic form can never itself be thought according to the terms of the criticism it produces but is always only constellated and matrixed within them—a symbolic form within both reflection and what it reflects on, within consciousness and the world. Thus, as Rajiv Kaushik argues, the symbolic form is another name for what Merleau-Ponty calls ontological divergence. Only now divergence introduces the question of a limit to both the subject and philosophy itself. This is nothing less than a psychoanalysis of philosophy. Kaushik's analyses of the matrices between space—imagination, light—dark, awake—asleep, and repression—expression reveal this symbolism in its form of divergence, its lack of origin and destination. Kaushik also argues that the phenomenology of symbolism must detour from the purely descriptive method. Drawing from Merleau-Ponty's recently published course materials, and attentive to his reliance on literature and literary language, Merleau-Ponty between Philosophy and Symbolism continues the living force of Merleau-Ponty's thought and develops his radical insight of the primacy of the symbolic form, even in an ontology that claims to be about the sensible and its elements.

Merleau-Ponty and the Paradoxes of Expression

Merleau-Ponty and the Paradoxes of Expression PDF Author: Donald A. Landes
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1441134786
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Merleau-Ponty and the Paradoxes of Expression offers a comprehensive reading of the philosophical work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, a central figure in 20th-century continental philosophy. By establishing that the paradoxical logic of expression is Merleau-Ponty's fundamental philosophical gesture, this book ties together his diverse work on perception, language, aesthetics, politics and history in order to establish the ontological position he was developing at the time of his sudden death in 1961. Donald A. Landes explores the paradoxical logic of expression as it appears in both Merleau-Ponty's explicit reflections on expression and his non-explicit uses of this logic in his philosophical reflection on other topics, and thus establishes a continuity and a trajectory of his thought that allows for his work to be placed into conversation with contemporary developments in continental philosophy. The book offers the reader a key to understanding Merleau-Ponty's subtle methodology and highlights the urgency and relevance of his research into the ontological significance of expression for today's work in art and cultural theory.

Merleau-Ponty

Merleau-Ponty PDF Author: Taylor Carman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134299362
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-61) was one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. His theories of perception and the role of the body have had an enormous impact on the humanities and social sciences, yet the full scope of his contribution not only to phenomenology but philosophy generally is only now being fully recognized. In this lucid and comprehensive introduction, Taylor Carman explains and assesses the full range of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy. Beginning with an overview of Merleau-Ponty's life and work, subsequent chapters cover fundamental aspects of Merleau-Ponty's thought, including his philosophy of perception and intentionality; the role of the body in perception; freedom and our relation to others; history and culture; and art, particularly the paintings of Czanne. A final chapter considers Merleau-Ponty's importance today, examining his philosophy in light of recent developments in philosophy of mind and cognitive science. This second edition makes use of the new translation of Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception, his most important work, highlighting its critique of "objective thought" and the account of constrained freedom that Merleau-Ponty advanced as a foil to Sartre's notion of radical choice. Including annotated further reading and a glossary of key terms, Merleau-Ponty, Second Edition is essential reading for students of phenomenology, existentialism and twentieth-century philosophy. It is also ideal for anyone in the humanities and social sciences seeking an introduction to Merleau-Ponty's work

Perception and its Development in Merleau-Ponty's Phemenology

Perception and its Development in Merleau-Ponty's Phemenology PDF Author: Kirsten Jacobson
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1487512864
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
French phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–1961) shifted the terrain of western philosophy when he identified the body, rather than consciousness, as the primary site of our meaningful engagement with the world. His magnum opus, The Phenomenology of Perception (1945), revolutionized work in philosophy, psychology, cognitive science and other fields. Perception and Its Development in Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology brings together essays from fifteen leading Merleau-Ponty scholars to demonstrate the continuing significance of Merleau-Ponty’s analysis. Mirroring the progression found in Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception, the essays in this volume engage in original phenomenological research to demonstrate the dynamic development of perceptual life from perception's most foundational forms (spatiality, temporality, intentionality, etc.) to its richest articulations in political life and artistic activity. This comprehensive volume is a powerful resource for students and scholars alike studying Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy and serves both as a commentary upon and companion to his The Phenomenology of Perception.

Merleau-Ponty and the Possibilities of Philosophy

Merleau-Ponty and the Possibilities of Philosophy PDF Author: Bernard Flynn
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438426917
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Maurice Merleau-Ponty is arguably the preeminent French philosopher of the last century, and interest in his thought is growing exponentially. This volume celebrates and interrogates the thought of Merleau-Ponty by drawing upon both classic and state-of-the-art assessments, some available in English here for the first time. The result is an essential collection of essays that explore Merleau-Ponty's importance in terms of his originality vis-à-vis the philosophical tradition, and examine his major insights about such contemporary concerns as subjectivity, the question of the other and sociality, the natural and the human, art, the sensible and the intelligible, and the philosophical study of language. Penetrating and illuminating, these essays firmly install Merleau-Ponty among the most innovative and critically debated thinkers of the past half century.

Merleau-Ponty and the Art of Perception

Merleau-Ponty and the Art of Perception PDF Author: Duane H. Davis
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438459599
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Philosophers and artists consider the relevance of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy for understanding art and aesthetic experience. This collection of essays brings together diverse but interrelated perspectives on art and perception based on the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Although Merleau-Ponty focused almost exclusively on painting in his writings on aesthetics, this collection also considers poetry, literary works, theater, and relationships between art and science. In addition to philosophers, the contributors include a painter, a photographer, a musicologist, and an architect. This widened scope offers important philosophical benefits, testing and providing evidence for the empirical applicability of Merleau-Ponty’s aesthetic writings. The central argument is that for Merleau-Ponty the account of perception is also an account of art and vice versa. In the philosopher’s writings, art and perception thus intertwine necessarily rather than contingently such that they can only be distinguished by abstraction. As a result, his account of perception and his account of art are organic, interdependent, and dynamic. The contributors examine various aspects of this intertwining across different artistic media, each ingeniously revealing an original perspective on this intertwining.

Merleau-Ponty and Environmental Philosophy

Merleau-Ponty and Environmental Philosophy PDF Author: Suzanne L. Cataldi
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791480240
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
Connects the work of Merleau-Ponty to environmental studies. This richly diverse collection looks at the contemporary relevance of the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty to environmental issues and builds a coherent philosophical ecology based on his thought. The contributors describe and analyze relations within the natural world by focusing on the centrality of relations in Merleau-Ponty’s work; his concept of the bond between humanity and nature; and his novel philosophies of perception, embodiment, and “wild” Being. Eco-phenomenologies of living places such as Central Park in New York City, Midwestern farmlands, and communal household dwellings of Pacific Northwest Coast people are closely examined. The contributors also explore Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy for environmental ethics and develop notions such as vital values, somatic empathy, and interspecies sociality. Suzanne L. Cataldi is Professor of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and the author of Emotion, Depth, and Flesh: A Study of Sensitive Space: Reflections on Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Embodiment, also published by SUNY Press. William S. Hamrick is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and the author of the SUNY Press book Kindness and the Good Society: Connections of the Heart, winner of the 2004 Edward Goodwin Ballard Book Prize in Phenomenology.