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The Enigma of Reversibility and the Genesis of Sense in Merleau-Ponty

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The Enigma of Reversibility and the Genesis of Sense in Merleau-Ponty

Morris, David (2010) The Enigma of Reversibility and the Genesis of Sense in Merleau-Ponty. Continental Philosophy Review, 43 (2). pp. 141-165. ISSN 1573-1103

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11007-010-9144-7

Abstract

This article clarifies Merleau-Ponty’s enigmatic, later concept of reversibility by showing how it is connected to the theme of the genesis of sense. The article first traces reversibility through “Eye and Mind” and The Visible and the Invisible, in ways that link reversibility to a theme of the earlier philosophy, namely an interrelation in which activity and passivity reverse to one another. This linkage is deepened through a detailed study of a passage on touch in the Phenomenology’s chapter on “Sensing,” which shows how reversibility is important to the genesis of sense, not from some already given origin, but through a creative operation within being, beyond the perceiver, wherein the field of perception internally diverges into active and passive moments. The article connects this point about the genesis of sense to themes in Merleau-Ponty’s lectures on institution and passivity. Altogether the article shows how reversibility is a sign of a divergence and thence of a sort of gap or excess in being that allows for a genesis of sense within being itself.

Divisions:Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > Philosophy
Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Authors:Morris, David
Journal or Publication:Continental Philosophy Review
Date:May 2010
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):10.1007/s11007-010-9144-7
Keywords:Merleau-Ponty; phenomenology; reversibility; genesis of sense; meaning; touch; activity; passivity; institution
ID Code:6802
Deposited By: David Morris
Deposited On:03 Aug 2010 17:35
Last Modified:18 Jan 2018 17:29

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