Maurice Merleau-Ponty

- is a French Phenomenological philosopher

on which he wrote books on perception, art and
political thought.

-the center of his philosophy is the emphasis

placed on the human body as the primary site
of knowing the world.
MERLEAU-PONTY’S VIEW OF HUMAN
NATURE AND THE SELF

- developed the concept of body-subject and

contended that perceptions occur existentially
- all knowledge is perceived through the
body with all its sensory functions which take
place here and now
 The Phenomenology of Perception (1945)

- Described the nature of man’s perceptual contact

with the world

- Perception forms the background of experience

which serves to guide man’s conscious actions

- Consciousness is a process that includes sensing

as well as interpreting
- The meaning assigned to this particular
object is subject to change depending on
the perspective upon which it is seen.

-Man, the perceiver, may thus experience

all the perspectives of the objects from the
other objects as well as all the other
perspective the object may have on the
other objects being surrounding it.

-The focus on this relationship between

self-experience and the experience of the
other people.