Merleau-Ponty at the Limits of Art, Religion, and Perception

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This book poses the question of what lies at the limit of philosophy. Through close studies of French phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty's life and work, the authors examine one of the twentieth century's most interdisciplinary philosophers whose thought intersected with and contributed to the practices of art, psychology, literature, faith and philosophy. As these essays show, Merleau-Ponty's oeuvre disrupts traditional disciplinary boundaries and prompts his readers to ask what, exactly, constitutes philosophy and its others.

Featuring essays by an international team of leading phenomenologists, art theorists, theologians, historians of philosophy, and philosophers of mind, this volume breaks new ground in Merleau-Ponty scholarshipincluding the first sustained reflections on the relationship between Merleau-Ponty and religionand magnifies a voice that is talked-over in too many conversations across the academic disciplines. Anyone interested in phenomenology, art theory and history, cognitive science, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of religion will find themselves challenged and engaged by the articles included in this important effort at inter-disciplinary philosophy.

Reviews

"Merleau-Ponty's engagement with visual art both informs and justifies his account of perception; it is impossible to understand the latter without the former. In both cases the experience of communion with what goes beyond oneself is crucial. The interesting and informative essays in this collection bring out some of the interplay between these artistic, perceptual, and religious phenomena and explore the way Merleau-Ponty himself understands them. The book will serve both as a guide to the uninitiated in these areas and as a spur to those already engaged." - Sean D. Kelly, Harvard University, USA

Author Bio

Kascha Semonovitch is a Lecturer in Philosophy at Seattle University, USA, and received her PhD in philosophy at Boston College, USA. She is the co-editor of Phenomenologies of the Stranger (Fordham, forthoming 2010). Neal DeRoo is Canada Research Chair in Phenomenology and Philosophy of Religion at The Kings University, Canada. He is the co-editor of Cross and Khra: Deconstruction and Christianity in the work of John D. Caputo (Pickwick, 2009), Phenomenology and Eschatology: Not Yet in the Now (Ashgate, 2009), and The Logic of Incarnation: James K.A. Smith's Critique of Postmodern Religion (Pickwick, 2008).