Product Description

This is the first volume to bring together a comprehensive selection of Merleau-Ponty's writing. It presents a cross-section of his work that clearly shows the historical progression of his ideas and influence.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #622543 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'This book will make an excellent introduction and guide for professional philosophers, as well as a good course book for undergraduate and postgraduate students.' - Jonathan Webber, Sheffield University

'An invaluable collection. One of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century, Merleau-Ponty has been long overdue for serious philosophical reassessment in the English-speaking world. Here, finally, in a single volume readers can appreciate the full breadth and subtlety of his groundbreaking work.' - Taylor Carman, Editor of The Cambridge Companion to Merleau-Ponty

'If, as Merleau-Ponty insists, true philosophy consists in relearning to look at the world, then we should be truly grateful to Tom Baldwin for allowing us to relearn how to look at Merleau-Ponty, who is - by any measure - one of the great philosophers of the last century'
- Simon Critchley, New School/Essex University

'An excellent anthology, which brings out both the range and the depth of one of the twentieth century's most perceptive thinkers.' - Jonathan Rée, editor of the Kierkegaard Reader

From the Back Cover
Merleau-Ponty was a pivotal figure in twentieth-century French philosophy. He was responsible for bringing the phenomenological methods of the German philosophers - Husserl and Heidegger - to France and instigated a new wave of interest in this approach. His influence extended well beyond the boundaries of philosophy and can be seen in theories of politics, psychology, art and language.

This is the first volume to bring together a comprehensive selection of Merleau-Ponty's writing.
Sections from the following are included:

*The Primacy of Perception
*Structure of Behavior
*The Phenomenology of Perception
*The Prose of the World
*The Visible and the Invisible
*Sense and Non-sense
*The Adventures of the Dialectic

In a substantial introduction Thomas Baldwin provides a critical discussion of the main themes of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy, connecting it to subsequent philosophical debates and setting it in the context of the ideas of Bergson, Husserl, Heidegger and Sartre. Each text is also prefaced with an explanation which sets it in its context in Merleau-Ponty's work; and there are extensive suggestions for further reading to enable students to pursue the issues raised by Merleau-Ponty. Thus the book provides the ideal materials for students studying Merleau-Ponty for the first time.

About the Author
Thomas Baldwin is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of York. Recent publications include: The Cambridge History of Philosophy 1870-1945 (2003), and Contemporary Philosophy: Philosophy in English since 1945 (2001); other publications include G.E. Moore (Routledge 1990).