Depuis la vigoureuse monographie que, en 1951, Alphonse de Waelhens consacra, sous le Ie titre de {laquo}Vne {laquo}Une philosophie philosophie de de l'Ambi l'Ambi guite{raquo} guite{raquo} a la pensee de Maurice Merleau-Ponty, la reflexion et les etudes sur les divers aspects de eette cette pensee pensee se se multiplierent multiplierent en en Franee France et dans le Ie monde. monde. La mort prematuree du philosophe en 1961, n'a pas diminue l'inMret l'interet qu'avaient suscite ses eerits ecrits et son enseignement. Des notes et des resumes de cours, des manuscrits manuserits inedits pieusement reunis par des disciples, diseiples, furent publies depuis lors. {laquo}Le Visible et l'Invisible, suivi de notes de travail{raquo}, paru en 1964, revela les perspeetives perspectives nouvelles d'une oeuvre qui apparaU ainsi eomme comme la plus riehe riche en possibilites, possibilit6s, parmi toutes eelles celles que, que, meme meme sur sur sa terre natale, inspira la phenomenologie de Husserl et de Heidegger. La philosophie de Merleau-Ponty ne se limite ee ce pendant a aucune ecole. Elle reste ouverte sur les problemes de son temps et notamment sur eeux ceux que, que, des des avant la penetration de la phenomenologie en France, posaient, en Allemagne et en Amerique, les sciences humaines: la psychologie dite de la Gestalt, le Ie behaviourisme, behaviourisme, la psychanalyse. psyehanalyse.

Merleau-Ponty's Reading of Husserl explores the relationship between two of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century: Edmund Husserl, the father of modern phenomenology, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, considered by many to be his greatest philosophical heir. While Merleau-Ponty's influence on the dissemination and reception of Husserl's thought is indisputable, unresolved questions remain concerning the philosophical projects of these two thinkers: Does phenomenology first reach its true potential in Merleau-Ponty's hands, guided by his appreciation of the tacit goals underlying Husserl's philosophical project? Or is Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology a creative but ultimately misdirected appropriation of Husserl's work? In this volume, the first devoted to a comparison of the work of these two philosophers, ten leading scholars draw on the latest research and newly available manuscripts to offer novel insights into Merleau-Ponty's reading of Husserl - with implications for our understanding of phenomenology's significance, its method, and the future of philosophy.

Continental philosophy is one of the twentieth century's most important and challenging philosophical movements. This major volume includes fourteen chapters on its major representatives and schools, including phenomenology, existentialism and postmodernism.

Continental philosophy, as it has emerged in the twentieth century, is less a seamless fabric than a patchquilt of diverse strands. Phenomenology, hermeneutics, existentialism, structuralism, critical theory, deconstruction - these are some of the salient movements which have developed in continental Europe between 1900 and the 1990's, though their influence is by no means confined to geographic location. Continental thought has proved highly exportable, circulating far beyond the frontiers of Europe to provoke strong responses in the intellectual world at large. The fifteen articles in this volume outline and assess some of the issues and experiments of continental philosophy. The first five span the twin movements of phenomenology and existentialism, running from Husserl and Heidegger to Sartre, Merleau-Ponty and Levinas. Subsequent essays deal with specific currents of continental thought in such areas as science, Marxism, linguistics, politics, aesthetics, feminism and hermeneutics. A final chapter on postmodernism highlights the manner in which so many concerns of continental thought culminate in a radical anti-foundationalism. This volume provides a broad, scholarly introduction to this period for students of philosophy and related disciplines, as well as some original interpretations of these authors. It includes a glossary of technical terms and a chronological tube of philosophical, scientific and other cultural events.