The Cambridge Companion to Merleau-Ponty

406 Pages·2004·1.67 MB·English

by  Taylor Carman (ed.)

the cambridge companion to
MERLEAU-PONTY
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–1961) was described by Paul
Ricoeur as “the greatest of the French phenomenologists.”
The new essays in this volume examine the full scope of
Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy, from his central and abiding
concernwiththenatureofperceptionandthebodilyconsti-
tutionofintentionalitytohisreflectionsonscience,nature,
art, history, and politics. The authors explore the historical
origins and context of his thought as well as its continuing
relevancetocontemporaryworkinphenomenology,philos-
ophy of mind, cognitive science, biology, art criticism, and
politicalandsocialtheory.
WhatemergesisafreshimageofMerleau-Pontyasadeep
and original thinker whose philosophical importance has
been underestimated, in part owing to the influence of in-
tellectualmovementssuchasexistentialismandstructural-
ism,intowhichhisworkcouldnotbeeasilyassimilated.
Newreaderswillfindthisthemostconvenientandacces-
sible guide to Merleau-Ponty currently available. Advanced
students and specialists will find a conspectus of recent de-
velopmentsintheinterpretationofMerleau-Ponty.
Taylor Carman is Associate Professor of Philosophy at
BarnardCollege,ColumbiaUniversity.
Mark B. N. Hansen is Associate Professor of English at
PrincetonUniversity.
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The Cambridge Companion to
MERLEAU-PONTY
Edited by
Taylor Carman
BarnardCollege,ColumbiaUniversity
Mark B. N. Hansen
PrincetonUniversity
publishedbythepresssyndicateoftheuniversityof
cambridge
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TheCambridgecompaniontoMerleau-Ponty/editedbyTaylorCarman
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p. cm.–(Cambridgecompanionstophilosophy)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn0-521-80989-4–isbn0-521-00777-1(pbk.)
1.Merleau-Ponty,Maurice,1908–1961. I.Carman,Taylor,1965-
II.Hansen,MarkB.N. III.Series.
b2430.m3764c36 2004
194–dc22 2003069683
isbn0521809894hardback
isbn0521007771paperback
contents
List of Contributors pagevii
Introduction 1
taylor carman and mark b. n. hansen
1 Merleau-Ponty and the Epistemological Picture 26
charles taylor
2 Sensation, Judgment, and the Phenomenal Field 50
taylor carman
3 Seeing Things in Merleau-Ponty 74
sean dorrance kelly
4 Motives, Reasons, and Causes 111
mark a. wrathall
5 Merleau-Ponty and Recent Cognitive Science 129
hubert l. dreyfus
6 The Silent, Limping Body of Philosophy 151
richard shusterman
7 Merleau-Ponty and the Touch of Malebranche 181
judith butler
v
vi Contents
8 A Phenomenology of Life 206
renaud barbaras
9 The Embryology of the (In)visible 231
mark b. n. hansen
10 Merleau-Ponty’s Existential Conception of
Science 265
joseph rouse
11 Between Philosophy and Art 291
jonathan gilmore
12 Understanding the Engaged Philosopher:
On Politics, Philosophy, and Art 318
lydia goehr
13 Thinking Politics 352
claude lefort
References 381
Index 393
contributors
RENAUD BARBARAS is Professor of Contemporary Philosophy at
the University of Paris-I Panthe´on–Sorbonne. He is the author of
De l’eˆtre du phe´nome`ne: Sur l’ontologie de Merleau-Ponty (1991,
2001), La perception: Essai sur le sensible (1994), Le Tournant de
l’expe´rience:RecherchessurlaphilosophiedeMerleau-Ponty(1998),
andLede´siretladistance:Introductiona` unephe´nome´nologiedela
perception(1999).Del’eˆtreduphe´nome`neandLede´siretladistance
arebothforthcominginEnglishtranslation.
JUDITH BUTLER is Maxine Elliot Professor in the Departments of
Rhetoric and Comparative Literature at the University of Califor-
nia, Berkeley. She is the author of Gender Trouble: Feminism and
the Subversion of Identity (1990), Bodies That Matter: On the Dis-
cursiveLimitsof“Sex”(1993),ThePsychicLifeofPower:Theories
of Subjection (1997), Antigone’s Claim: Kinship between Life and
Death (2000), and numerous articles and contributions to philoso-
phyandfeministandqueertheory.
TAYLORCARMANisAssociateProfessorofPhilosophyatBarnard
College, Columbia University. He has written articles on topics in
phenomenologyandistheauthorofHeidegger’sAnalytic:Interpre-
tation,Discourse,andAuthenticityin“BeingandTime”(2003).He
iscurrentlywritingabookonMerleau-Ponty.
HUBERT L. DREYFUS is Professor of Philosophy in the Graduate
School at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author
ofMichelFoucault:BeyondStructuralismandHermeneutics(with
Paul Rabinow) (1983), Mind over Machine (with Stuart Dreyfus)
vii
viii Contributors
(1986), Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger’s “Being
and Time,” Division I (1991), What Computers (Still) Can’t Do
(1992),andOntheInternet(2001).
JONATHANGILMOREisAssistantProfessorofPhilosophyatYale
University.Hehaswrittenarticlesinthephilosophyofart,arthis-
tory,andlegaltheory.HeistheauthorofTheLifeofaStyle:Begin-
ningsandEndingsintheNarrativeHistoryofArt(2000).
LYDIA GOEHR is Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University.
She is the author of The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works: An
Essay in the Philosophy of Music (1992) and The Quest for Voice:
Music,Politics,andtheLimitsofPhilosophy(1998).Sheiscurrently
workingonmusicandcriticaltheory,oneexampleofwhichappears
inTheCambridgeCompaniontoAdorno(2004).
MARKB.N.HANSENisAssociateProfessorofEnglishatPrinceton
University.HeistheauthorofEmbodyingTechnesis:Technologybe-
yondWriting(2000),NewPhilosophyforNewMedia(2004),Bodies
in Code: Interfaces with New Media (forthcoming); and essays on
culturaltheory.
SEANDORRANCEKELLYisAssistantProfessorofPhilosophyand
Jonathan Edwards Bicentennial Preceptor at Princeton University.
His principal interests lie at the intersection of phenomenology,
philosophy of mind, and cognitive neuroscience. He was recently
awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of his work in
theseareas.
CLAUDE LEFORT teaches social and political theory at the E´cole
des Hautes E´tudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. His work has ap-
pearedinEnglishtranslationunderthetitlesThePoliticalFormsof
Modern Society: Bureaucracy, Democracy, Totalitarianism (1986),
Democracy and Political Theory (1988), and Writing: The Political
Test(2000).
JOSEPH ROUSE is Hedding Professor of Moral Science and Chair
of the Science in Society Program at Wesleyan University. He is
the author of Engaging Science: How to Think about Its Practices
Contributors ix
Philosophically (1996), Knowledge and Power: Toward a Political
Philosophy of Science (1987), and How Scientific Practices Matter:
ReclaimingPhilosophicalNaturalism(2002).
RICHARD SHUSTERMAN is Professor of Philosophy at Temple
University, Philadelphia, and the Colle`ge International de Philoso-
phie,Paris.HeistheauthorofPragmatistAesthetics:LivingBeauty,
Rethinking Art (2d ed., 2000), Practicing Philosophy: Pragmatism
andthePhilosophicalLife(1997),PerformingLive:AestheticAlter-
nativesfortheEndsofArt(2000),andSurfaceandDepth:Dialectics
ofCriticismandCulture(2002).HeisalsotheeditorofBourdieu:A
CriticalReader(1999).
CHARLES TAYLOR is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at McGill
University, Montreal. He is the author of The Explanation of Be-
haviour(1964);twovolumesofcollectedessays,HumanAgencyand
Language and Philosophy and the Human Sciences (1985); Sources
of the Self (1989); The Ethics of Authenticity (1991); Philosophical
Arguments (1995); and Varieties of Religion Today: William James
Revisited(2002).
MARK A. WRATHALL is Associate Professor of Philosophy at
BrighamYoungUniversity.Hehaspublishedarticlesontopicsinthe
history of philosophy and philosophy of language and mind, draw-
ing on both the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy.
He recently edited Religion after Metaphysics (2003) and coedited
HeideggerReexamined(2002),Heidegger,Authenticity,andModer-
nity (2000), Heidegger, Coping, and Cognitive Science (2000), and
AppropriatingHeidegger(2000).