Merleau-Ponty, Maurice

Abstract

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, French phenomenologist and existential philosopher, emphasized the role of the body in human perception, action, and cognition. He argued against both naturalistic and intellectualistic dualist philosophies. On his view, perception involves bodily engagement; the world appears relative to a situated perspective that is defined by one's pragmatic interests and possibilities. We encounter an ambiguous world to which we help give form through our embodied engagement with it. His concepts of freedom and history follow this same line of thought.

Publication Title

Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory

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