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Domination and Dialogue in Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2020

Abstract

Merleau-Ponty's claim in Phenomenology of Perception (1962) that the anonymous body guarantees an intersubjective world is problematic because it omits the particularities of bodies. This omission produces an account of “dialogue” with another in which I solipsistically hear only myself and dominate others with my intentionality. This essay develops an alternative to projective intentionality called “hypothetical construction,” in which meaning is socially constructed through an appreciation of the differences of others.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 by Hypatia, Inc.

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