Sense and Non-Sense

by Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Patricia Allen Dreyfus

Written between 1945 and 1947, the essays in Sense and Non-Sense provide an excellent introduction to Merleau-Ponty's thought. They summarize his previous insights and exhibit their widest range of application-in aesthetics, ethics, politics, and the sciences of man. Each essay opens new perspectives to man's search for reason.

The first part of Sense and Non-Sense , "Arts," is concerned with Merleau-Ponty's concepts of perception, which were advanced in his major philosophical treatise, Phenomenology of Perception . Here the analysis is focused and enriched in descriptions of the perceptual world of Cezanne, the encounter with the Other as expressed in the novels of Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre, and the gestalt quality of experience brought out in the film art form. In the second part, "Ideas," Merleau-Ponty shows how the categories of the phenomenology of perception can be understood as an outgrowth of the behavioral sciences and how a model of existence based on perception sensitizes us to the insights and limitations of previous philosophies and suggests constructive criticisms of contemporary philosophy. The third part, "Politics," clarifies the political dilemmas facing intellectuals in postwar France.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Essays, Politics, Theory, France, History

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger in addition to being closely associated with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. At the core of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy is a sustained argument for the foundational role that perception plays in understanding the world as well as engaging with the world. Like the other major phenomenologists Merleau-Ponty expressed his philosophical insights in writings on art, literature, and politics; however Merleau-Ponty was the only major phenomenologist of the first half of the Twentieth Century to engage extensively with the sciences, and especially with descriptive psychology. Because of this engagement, his writings have become influential with the recent project of naturalizing phenomenology in which phenomenologists utilize the results of psychology and cognitive science.

Merleau-Ponty was born in Rochefort-sur-Mer, Charente-Maritime. His father was killed in World War 1 when Merleau-Ponty was 3. After secondary schooling at the lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, Maurice Merleau-Ponty became a student at the École Normale Supérieure, where he studied alongside Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Simone Weil. He passed the agrégation in philosophy in 1930.

Merleau-Ponty first taught at Chartres, then became a tutor at the École Normale Supérieure, where he was awarded his doctorate on the basis of two important books: La structure du comportement (1942) and Phénoménologie de la Perception (1945).

After teaching at the University of Lyon from 1945 to 1948, Merleau-Ponty lectured on child psychology and education at the Sorbonne from 1949 to 1952. He was awarded the Chair of Philosophy at the Collège de France from 1952 until his death in 1961, making him the youngest person to have been elected to a Chair.

Besides his teaching, Merleau-Ponty was also political editor for Les Temps Modernes from the founding of the journal in October 1945 until December 1952.

Aged 53, he died suddenly of a stroke in 1961, apparently while preparing for a class on Descartes. He was buried in Le Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Reviews

[Andrew]

If you're not ready for the dense brilliance of The Phenomenology of Perception, this would be a good entry into Merleau-Ponty if you're familiar with and enjoy the essays of his bros Camus and Sartre. These essays are far chattier, and I'd hate to call them philosophy – they largely deal with art and culture, and the issues of the day (those are damn near useless nowadays, though, rehashing old feuds that are of minimal interest to the modern reader, maybe even in France). It was all enjoyable enough, even if it didn't captivate me the way his hardcore philosophy did.

[Kamakana · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you like this review i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com

140711: more m-p is always welcome, this selection of three main topics captures thought of the times and breadth of application of his type of phenomenology. Cezanne ‘s doubt, makes me wonder what he thought of non-realistic art, as attempts to fix the non visual, the abstract. Metaphysics in man, A scandalous author, catch the era, then The war has taken place, is a sense of how one must live in the Occupation, while the essays on Marxism, theory and communist practice versus philosophy were also of the times when leftism was being co-opted by communism...

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het Cézanne-essay is echt een hoogtepunt. Merleau-Ponty neemt daarin de schilder zelf als vertrekpunt; zijn ervaring staat centraal, niet het kunstwerk achteraf. Helemaal in lijn met de fenomenologie. Cézanne oriënteerde zich immers ook op die manier; hij probeerde de ervaring als ‘zodanig’ te vangen - nog vóór Husserls zu den Sachen selbst - als fenomenoloog avant la lettre, niet conceptueel, maar in verf en kleur. Wat echt bijzonder is. Merleau-Ponty brengt dit alles buitengewoon subtiel; hij verhoudt zich tot Cézanne zoals Cézanne zich tot de ervaring zelf; van binnenuit. Héel mooi

[Bill Sirius · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was an awful experience. This is a terribly written MP; unlike most of the other work, this one is a selection of early essays among which most are non-academic as well as poorly-researched.

[Jarod Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

70/100

A pretty good collection of essays from Merleau-Ponty: they really benefit from having a background in the thinkers that are discussed, like Hegel, Marx, Heidegger, etc, but I still think there's a good nugget of wisdom to be extracted even if one is unaware. It's broken into 3 sections:

1. Aesthetics, in which he uses phenomenological philosophy as a lens in which to view art like paintings and film. This one was actually probably my favorite part, it's interesting to meditate on his thoughts as I feel like they're quite insightful.

2. Ideas, in which he discusses pretty much contemporary (for 1945) political movements, drama brewing between local essayists and their basis in Marxist theory. A little boring since it's most relevant to the French intellectuals half a century ago, but it has some tidbits to take away.

3. Politics, in which Merleau-Ponty gives his thoughts on the immediate conclusion of WW2, and this is actually a really insightful thing to read. His thoughts on the origin and future after these conflicts is fantastic, and gives some great modern quotes, such as,

"It is up to us to observe the world during these years when it begins to breathe again, once the bottom has fallen out of fascism. If the class struggle once again becomes the motivating force if history and, definitely, if the alternative of socialism or chaos becomes clearer, it is up to us to choose a proletarian socialism."

[Mack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first encountered Merleau-Ponty's thought in Sarah Bakewell's excellent primer At the Existentialist Cafe. I really liked a lot of what she highlighted and starting with this one seemed far less daunting than taking on Phenomenology of Perception. I had mixed feelings. There are some essays in here I thought were amazing ("A Scandalous Author" and especially "The War Has Taken Place") but most felt too dated or specified for me. They dealt with timely situations in a very timely way, which is no fault of Merleau-Ponty's, but it still robs the content of the timelessness that, for instance, "The War Has Taken Place" has. It's still interesting to see what people were thinking and the major debates about Marxism and existentialism in immediate post-war France, but I just found myself skimming more often than not. I'm interested in exploring some of his more explicitly philosophical work and every essay had at least a few glimmers of eternal insight I was very thankful to take in.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

My exposure to Merleau-Ponty has mostly been through his most classic philosophical/phenomenological works, which are fascinating but dense. This book was an extremely fun read, then, containing some of that kind of writing/thinking and then also other examples of his political and cultural criticism, a side of him and his work that I just hadn't been exposed to. I don't know a ton about French politics, of course, but it was still incredibly interesting to read the way that his critical mind worked, and how his political thought emerged very naturally and consistently from his philosophical outlook. I can't say that I got everything I was supposed to out of some of the essays, lacking appropriate context and historical background, but I enjoyed thinking through them nonetheless.

[Derek Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we find ourselves in history, seemingly so far removed from the horrors of World War II and that terrible rise of fascism. Yet, these essays seem to resonate, somewhat eerily, with the modern age. The essays don't necessarily try to portray a unified view but rather they provide vignettes of important perspectives. Everything from the human condition to Catholicism to history to politics to faith is brought into the dialogue.

[Drake Finlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highlights were Cezanne's Doubt, Metaphysics and the Novel, A Scandalous Author, The Battle Over Existentialism and The War Has Taken Place. Found many of the other essays in this collection to drag. Overall though Merleau-Ponty presents many of the key aspects of his philosophy in these essays that are generally about other things so it makes for an interesting read.

[Ritima]

Please share with me a link of this book. I signed up to goodreads to get the link, they only scammed me.

[Norman Ho]

Cezanne's Doubt

[Andy Zhang]

Cezanne's doubt

[Lilly Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn’t read the whole thing but read “Cezanne’s Doubt” which was emotionally damaging enough to count this towards my book goal

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il primo terzo del libro ("Opere") è eccezionale, la partre centrale e l'ultima mi hanno illuminata molto meno. Resta comunque un buon testo

[Harper R · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a fantastic essay on Sartre in this book - to paraphrase - "now and then the world should have to come face to face with a free man"

[Kassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frequently quotable, just as frequently daft. This is how philosophy should be done.

[David Markwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of Merleau-Ponty's essays/articles from Les Temps Moderns.