The possibility of philosophy : course notes from the Collège de France, 1959-1961

The Possibility of Philosophy presents the notes that Maurice Merleau‐Ponty prepared for three courses he taught at the CollÈge de France: “The Possibility of Philosophy Today,” given in the spring semester of 1959; and “Cartesian Ontology and Ontology Today” and “Philosophy and Nonphilosophy since Hegel,” both given in the spring semester of 1961. The last two courses remain incomplete due to Merleau-Ponty’s unexpected death on May 3, 1961. Nonetheless, they provide indications of the new ontology that informed The Visible and the Invisible , a posthumously published work that was under way at the same time. These courses offer readers of Merleau‐Ponty’s late thought a wealth of references―to painting, literature, and psychoanalysis, and to the works of Husserl, Heidegger, Descartes, Hegel, and Marx―that fill in some of the missing pieces of The Visible and the Invisible , especially its often terse and sometimes cryptic working notes. We see more clearly how Merleau-Ponty’s attempt to bring forth a new ontology indicates a fundamental revision in what it means to think, an attempt to reimagine the possibility of philosophy. Cover 1 Title Page 2 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Translator’s Preface 8 Foreword 12 Editor’s Note 32 Course Notes from the Collège de France, 1959 34 The Possibility of Philosophy Today 36 Course Notes from the Collège de France, 1960–1961 120 Cartesian Ontology and Ontology Today 122 Philosophy and Nonphilosophy since Hegel 200 Appendixes 7 Draft of a Chapter from The Visible and the Invisible 266 Supplementary Materials for the 1959 Course 284 Translation and Commentary on Beilage XXIII of Husserl’s Crisis of the European Sciences 288 Supplementary Materials for the 1960–1961 Course 294 Notes 298 Bibliography 350 Index 358 "The Possibility of Philosophy presents the notes Maurice Merleau-Ponty prepared for three courses he taught at the Collège de France. Two of these courses were the last he taught before his unexpected death in 1961"-- Provided by publisher __The Possibility of Philosophy____The Visible and the Invisible____The Visible and the Invisible__