Resistance of the Sensible World: An Introduction to Merleau-Ponty (Perspectives in Continental Philosophy)

A philosophy that was prematurely cut short by the death of its author cannot be criticized for being inconclusive. But there has often been too great a tendency to see the suspension of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s oeuvre as the ultimate expression of a mode of thought whose strength would lie entirely in its incompletion. Rather than treating it as a kind of open-air quarry, from which concepts and arguments could be extracted to one’s liking, this book aims at reconstructing the organic trajectory of a living thought. Drawing both on published works and unpublished manuscripts, Emmanuel Alloa suggests a completely novel approach, that accounts for both the evolution and the internal coherence of an ongoing interrogation: what does it mean for a world to be a sensible world? Highlighting the importance of the so far underestimated ‘middle phase’, __The Resistance of the Sensible World__ provides both a refreshing new look at a modern classic as well as a guide for the perplexed. While showing how Merleau-Ponty’s oeuvre foreshadows some of the crucial openings of contemporary philosophy, the book also argues why sense ever only exists for sensible beings, i.e. for embodied, entangled, situated beings. “Emmanuel Alloa reads Merleau-Ponty as if for the first time, as if nothing of what has been repeated again and again could be taken for granted.” (Renaud Barbaras) It would be unfair to blame a philosophy whose development was brutally interrupted for not being conclusive. But while this openness incited many readers toward other fertile horizons, the oeuvre is hardly ever studied for itself. In this book, Emmanuel Alloa offers a handrail for venturing into the complexities of the work of the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–1961). Through a comprehensive analysis of the three main phases of his thinking and a thorough knowledge of Merleau-Ponty’s many unpublished manuscripts, he traces how Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy evolved and exposes the remarkable coherence that structures it from within. While stressing two turns Merleau-Ponty’s thought underwent―a linguistic turn after 1945 and an ontological turn in the late 1950s, Alloa teases out the continuity of a motive that traverses the entire oeuvre as a common thread. Merleau-Ponty struggled incessantly against any kind of ideology of transparency, whether of the world, the self, of knowledge, or of the self’s relation to others. Alloa’s innovative reading of this crucially important thinker not only offers a new look at Merleau-Ponty but also shows why the issues he raised are more than ever those of our time. In this book, Emmanuel Alloa offers a handrail for venturing into the complexities of the work of the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–61). Through a comprehensive analysis of the three main phases of Merleau-Ponty's thinking and a thorough knowledge of his many unpublished manuscripts, the author traces how Merleau-Ponty's philosophy evolved and exposes the remarkable coherence that structures it from within. Alloa teases out the continuity of a motive that traverses the entire oeuvre as a common thread. Merleau-Ponty struggled incessantly against any kind of ideology of transparency, whether of the world, of the self, of knowledge, or of the self's relation to others.Already translated into several languages, Alloa's innovative reading of this crucially important thinker shows why the issues Merleau-Ponty raised are, more than ever, those of our time. In this book, Emmanuel Alloa offers a handrail for venturing into the complexities of the work of the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–61). Through a comprehensive analysis of the three main phases of Merleau-Ponty’s thinking and a thorough knowledge of his many unpublished manuscripts, the author traces how Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy evolved and exposes the remarkable coherence that structures it from within. Alloa teases out the continuity of a motive that traverses the entire oeuvre as a common thread. Merleau-Ponty struggled incessantly against any kind of ideology of transparency, whether of the world, of the self, of knowledge, or of the self’s relation to others. Already translated into several languages, Alloa’s innovative reading of this crucially important thinker shows why the issues Merleau-Ponty raised are, more than ever, those of our time In this book, Emmanuel Alloa offers a handrail for venturing into the complexities of the work of the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961). Through a comprehensive analysis of the three main phases of his thinking and a thorough knowledge of Merleau-Ponty's many unpublished manuscripts, he traces how Merleau-Ponty's philosophy evolved and exposes the remarkable coherence that structures it from within. While stressing two turns Merleau-Ponty's thought underwent--a linguistic turn after 1945 and an ontological turn in the late 1950s, Alloa teases out the continuity of a motive that traverses the entire oeuvre as a common thread. Merleau-Ponty struggled incessantly against any kind of ideology of transparency, whether of the world, the self, of knowledge, or of the self's relation to others. --Publisher description It would be unfair to blame a philosophy whose development was brutally interrupted for not being conclusive. But while this openness incited many readers toward other fertile horizons, the oeuvre is hardly ever studied for itself. In this work, Emmanuel Alloa offers a handrail for venturing into the complexities of the work of the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) Cover 1 Resistance of the Sensible World 2 Title 6 Copyright 7 Contents 8 Foreword 10 Translator’s Note 16 List of Abbreviations of Merleau-Ponty’s Works 18 Introduction: Return to the Obvious 24 1 Perception 38 2 Language 58 3 Ontology of the Visible 81 Conclusion: Toward Dia-Phenomenology 106 Notes 126 Selected Bibliography 140 Index of names 148 Index of concepts 150 An Introduction To The Philosophy Of Maurice Merleau-ponty (1908-1961) Which Guides Through The Three Main Phases Of His Work. Both For Beginners And For Confirmed Scholars.