The Incarnate Subject: Malebranche, Biran, And Bergson On The Union Of Body And Soul Union De L'âme Et Du Corps Chez Malebranche, Biran Et Bergson. English

This volume is the English translation of sixteen lectures by Maurice Merleau-Ponty given at the Ecole Normale Superieure in 1947-48 and reconstituted on the basis of notes taken by some of his most outstanding students. Devoted to three of the great names in the French philosophical tradition, Malebranche, Maine de Biran, and Bergson, these lectures centre on a classic problem: the union of the soul and the body. They reveal a line of reasoning that Merleau-Ponty had already traced in "The Structure of Behaviour" and "Phenomenology of Perception", and anticipate later developments of his innovative philosophical inquiry in "Signs" and "The Visible and the Invisible". In these lectures, Merleau-Ponty demonstrates how Malebranche had articulated an early phenomenology of the human condition, how Maine de Biran had anticipated the central project and related themes of the 'Phenomenology of Perception', and how certain features of Bergson's method announce key elements of the philosophical methodology expressed in Merleau-Ponty's later works. This volume contains one of Merleau-Ponty's most sustained explications and critiques of Bergson's "Matter and Memory", and, more important, his only major presentation and critique of the thought of Maine de Biran. The serious student of Merleau-Ponty and of the history of philosophy will find this unique volume of a hitherto-untranslated work of great value.

This volume is the English translation of sixteen lectures by Maurice Merleau-Ponty given at the École Normale SupTrieure in 1947-48 and reconstituted on the basis of notes taken by some of his most outstanding students. Devoted to three of the great names in the French philosophical tradition, Malebranche, Maine de Biran, and Bergson, these lectures center on a classic problem: the union of the soul and the body. They reveal a line of reasoning that Merleau-Ponty had already traced in The Structure of Behavior and Phenomenology of Perception, and anticipate later developments of his innovative philosophical inquiry in Signs and The Visible and the Invisible.

In these lectures Merleau-Ponty demonstrates how Malebranche had articulated an early phenomenology of the human condition, how Maine de Biran had anticipated the central project and related themes of the Phenomenology of Perception, and how certain features of Bergson's method announce key elements of the philosophical methodology expressed in Merleau-Ponty's later works. This volume contains one of Merleau-Ponty's most sustained explications and critiques of Bergson's Matter and Memory, and, more important, his only major presentation and critique of the thought of Maine de Biran.

The serious student of Merleau-Ponty and of the history of philosophy will find this unique volume of a hitherto-untranslated work of great value.

This volume is the English translation of sixteen lectures by Maurice Merleau-Ponty given at the cole Normale Superieure in 1947-48 and reconstituted on the basis of notes taken by some of his most outstanding students. Devoted to three of the great names in the French philosophical tradition, Malebranche, Maine de Biran, and Bergson, these lectures center on a classic the union of the soul and the body. They reveal a line of reasoning that Merleau-Ponty had already traced in The Structure of Behavior and Phenomenology of Perception , and anticipate later developments of his innovative philosophical inquiry in Signs and The Visible and the Invisible . In these lectures Merleau-Ponty demonstrates how Malebranche had articulated an early phenomenology of the human condition, how Maine de Biran had anticipated the central project and related themes of the Phenomenology of Perception , and how certain features of Bergson's method announce key elements of the philosophical methodology expressed in Merleau-Ponty's later works. This volume contains one of Merleau-Ponty's most sustained explications and critiques of Bergson's Matter and Memory , and, more important, his only major presentation and critique of the thought of Maine de Biran. The serious student of Merleau-Ponty and of the history of philosophy will find this unique volume of a hitherto-untranslated work of great value. Table of Contents 7 Acknowledgments 8 Preface to the English Translation 10 Introduction 16 French Editor's Foreword 28 Lecture 1 Note on the History of Philosophy in Relation to Malebranche, Biran, and Bergson 30 Lecture 2 The Union of the Soul and the Body in Descartes 34 Lecture 3 Consciousness of Self in Melebranche 38 Lecture 4 Natural Judgments and Perception 44 Lecture 5 Perceptible Extension and Intelligible Extension 50 Lecture 6 Causality in the Relationships between the Soul and the Body 54 Lecture 7 Theology and the Union of the Soul and the Body 56 Lecture 8 From Malebranche to Maine de Biran 62 Lecture 9 Biran and the Philosophers of the Cogito 74 Lecture 10 Biran and the Philosophers of the Cogito (Conclusion) 80 Lecture 11 Matter and Memory: The New and the Positive in the Analysis of the First Chapter 88 Lecture 12 The Second Chapter of Matter and Memory 94 Lecture 13 Commentary on Text: The Unconscious 98 Lecture 14 Commentary on Text: The Definition of Existence 104 Lecture 15 Commentary on Text: "Seek Experience at Its Source" 108 Lecture 16 The Relationships between Intuition and Construction in Bergson's Metaphysics 114 Complementary Note 120 Chapter Notes 126 Bibliography 138 Index of Authors Cited by Maurice Merieau-Ponty 140 Subject Index 142 1573929158,9781573929158 Presents the English translation of 16 lectures by Merleau-Ponty given at the Ecole Normale Superieure in 1947-48, reconstituted on the basis of notes taken by some of his students. This book contains Merleau-Ponty's explication and critique of Bergson's "Matter and Memory", and his presentation and critique of the thought of Maine de Biran. During the academic year 1947-48, Maurice Merleau-Ponty offered at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris and at the University of Lyon a series of lectures to prepare students for the qualifying examination for the agregation in philosophy.