The Merleau-Ponty Reader: (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy)

The first reader to offer a comprehensive view of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's (1908-1961) work, this selection collects in one volume the foundational essays necessary for understanding the core of this critical twentieth-century philosopher's thought. Arranged chronologically, the essays are grouped in three sections corresponding to the major periods of Merleau-Ponty's work: First, the years prior to his appointment to the Sorbonne in 1949, the early, existentialist period during which he wrote important works on the phenomenology of perception and the primacy of perception; second, the years of his work as professor of child psychology and pedagogy at the Sorbonne, period especially concerned with language; and finally, his years as chair of modern philosophy at the College de France, a time devoted to the articulation of a new ontology and philosophy of nature. The editors, who provide an interpretive introduction, also include previously unpublished working notes found in Merleau-Ponty's papers after his death. Translations of all selections have been updated and several appear here in English for the first time. By contextualizing Merleau-Ponty's writings on the philosophy of art and politics within the overall development of his thought, this volume allows readers to see both the breadth of his contribution to twentieth-century philosophy and the convergence of the various strands of his reflection.

Table of Contents:
Sources of the Texts Editors's Introduction I. The Pre-Sorbonne Period (Preceding 1949) 1. The Relations of the Soul & the Body & the Problem of Perceptual Consciousness, from The Structure of Behavior (1942) 2. The War Has Taken Place (1945), from Sense and Non-Sense 3. What is Phenomenology? Preface to the Phenomenology of Perception (1945) 4. Cezanne's Doubt (1945), from Sense and Non-Sense 5. The Contemporary Philosophical Movement (1945), from Parcours, 1935-1951 6. The Primacy of Perception and its Philosophical Consequences (1946), from the Bulletin de la societe francaise de philosophie 7. Reality and its Shadow (1948), from Parcours, 1935-1951 II. The Sorbonne Period (1949-1952) 8. A Note on Machiavelli (1949), from Signs 9. The Adversary is Complicit (1950), from Parcours, 1935-1951 10. The Child's Relations with Others (1951), extract, course at the Sorbonne 11. Human Engineering: The New ""Human"" Techniques of American Big Business (1951), from Parcours, 1935-1951 12. Man and Adversity, followed by discussion (1951), essay from Signs, discussion from Parcours Deux, 1951-1961 13. Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence (1952), from Signs 14. An Unpublished Text by Maurice Merleau-Ponty: A Prospectus of his Work (1952), from Parcours Deux, 1951-1961 III. The College De France Period (1952-1961) 15. Epilogue to Adventures of the Dialectic (1953-54) 16. Preface (1960) to Signs 17. Eye and Mind (1961) 18. Merleau-Ponty in Person (1958), from Parcours Deux, 1951-1961 19. The Intertwining - The Chiasm (1960-61), from The Visible and the Invisible 20. New Working Notes from the Period of The Visible and the Invisible (1955-61).

About the Author :
Ted Toadvine is an assistant professor of philosophy and environmental studies at University of Oregon and the co-editor of Merleau-Ponty’s Reading of Husserl (Springer, 2002) and Eco-Phenomenology: Back to the Earth Itself (SUNY, 2003). He is also the co-translator (with Leonard Lawlor) of Renaud Barbaras’s The Being of the Phenomenon (Indiana, 2004). Leonard Lawlor is Faudree-Hardin University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Memphis and the author of The Challenge of Bergsonism: Phenomenology, Ontology, Ethics (Continuum, 2003) and Thinking through French Philosophy: The Being of the Question (Indiana, 2003). He is also the editor and co-translator (with Bettina Bergo) of Merleau-Ponty’s Husserl at the Limits of Phenomenology (Northwestern, 2001) and the co-translator (with Ted Toadvine) of Renaud Barbaras’s Tthehe Being of  Phenomenon (Indiana, 2004).