Merleau-Ponty Maurice

Abstract

The article presents a summary of the philosophical teachings of the French thinker Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–1961). The main research topics are as follows: substantiation of the unique relationship between man and the world, man and man; the nature of language; the linguistic experience of man; history as a product and space of human activity. Reflecting on the relationship of man to the world, M. Merleau-Ponty sought to identify the natural and at the same time the original human contact with the world. When creating his philosophical concept, he relied on the teachings of M. Montaigne, Men de Biran, A. Bergson, G. Marcel. The philosopher highlights the specific role of the human body in his life and in creating a human community, declaring it a “universal scale”. Merleau-Ponty explores the concept of flesh in many ways, which for him is the primary element of being and allows us to talk about the kinship of the human self and the world. Further, he substantiates a person's involvement in being through language, speech, the appearance and design of which he associates with a special function of the human body. The philosopher declares linguistic experience to be the highest achievement of man, an indicator of his historicity and ability to transcend, thanks to which the development of human culture is carried out. In linguistic experience, a person turns to the “other”, and being appears as a meeting place for the “I” and the “other” embedded in him; the “other” is initially included in the primary experience of the world — the “I” and the “other” consist of one flesh. The flesh also acts as a starting point for the study of human social existence. The material that supports and develops the conclusions of philosophy for M. Merleau-Ponty is art: a philosopher and an artist in their work proceed from a primary relationship to the world; philosophy and art are contact with existence, the discovery of the world of things, the exploration of primordial reality. Merleau-Ponty seeks confirmation of his ideas in the works of Balzac, Stendhal, Proust, Gide, Saint-Exupery, who, in his opinion, tell about the fullness of the human spirit, the richness of the inner world of man, and the community of people.