Merleau-Ponty

Résumé éditeur

"This study focuses upon Merleau-Ponty's conception of the imaginary and intends to show how his philosophy leads to radically rethink the whole reality and, eventually, to establish an ontology whose very principle is the imaginary that Merleau-Ponty also defines as "the institution of the Being". The imaginary is a key notion in Merleau-Ponty's philosophy, on a par with perception, since the former proves to be the reverse side of the latter, its original ambiguous part. Merleau-Ponty being primarily interested in the capacity of the imaginary to compete with - indeed to surpass - the perceived, he shows that they are homogenous and share a common origin that he describes as "mythical" and "dreamlike". Thus, in an original and revolutionary way, Merleau-Ponty defines the imaginary as having a genuine flesh and as bringing tenfold increased presence of the things themselves. It follows that we have to enlarge the notion of reality by recognizing the imaginary dimension and "texture" of the Real. This raises a question which is one of the main avenues in Merleau-Ponty's thought: what kind of authenticity can still be instituted when the nature of existence partakes of that of dreams and comedy and when the being of things and persons is not in the least the en-soi, but, instead, the ubiquity of shadows and reflections? One of Merleau-Ponty's most remarkable teachings defines the way how "imagination can save from imagination"."--Publisher's website