Stephen H. Watson

Maurice Merleau-Ponty is widely known for his emphasis on embodied perceptual experience. This emphasis initially relied heavily on the positive results of Gestalt psychology in addressing issues in philosophical psychology and philosophy of mind from a phenomenological standpoint. However, far less work has been done in addressing his evolving conception of how such an account influenced more general philosophical issues in epistemology, accounts of rationality, or its status of theoretical discourse. Developing the work he has already done in In the Shadow of Phenomenology to address this gap in the literature, Stephen H. Watson further examines the responses to Merleau-Ponty's contributions to these issues. This book emphasises the historical and intersubjective underpinnings of Merleau-Ponty's late accounts, in relation to rationality, institution and community, and examines its implications.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty is widely known for his emphasis on embodied perceptual experience. This emphasis initially relied heavily on the positive results of Gestalt psychology in addressing issues in philosophical psychology and philosophy of mind from a phenomenological standpoint. Eventually he transformed this account in light of his investigations in linguistics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of history and institutions. Far less work has been done in addressing his evolving conception of philosophy and how this account influenced more general philosophical issues in epistemology, accounts of rationality, or its status as theoretical discourse. Merleau-Ponty's own contributions to these issues and, in particular, the theoretical status of the phenomenological account that resulted, have provoked varying responses. On the one hand, some commentators have understood his work to be a regional application of Husserl's foundational account of phenomenology. On the other hand, some commentators have questioned whether, in the final analysis, Merleau-Ponty was a phenomenologist at all. In In the Shadow of Phenomenology, Stephen H. Watson offers an in depth analysis of these responses and the complications and development of Merleau-Ponty's position.

Why, and in what manner, did artist Paul Klee have such a significant impact on twentieth-century thinkers? His art and his writing inspired leading philosophers to produce key texts in twentieth-century aesthetics, texts that influenced subsequent art history and criticism. Heidegger, Adorno, Benjamin, Merleau-Ponty, Lyotard, Sartre, Foucault, Blanchot, Derrida, and Marion are among the philosophers who have engaged with Klee's art and writings. Their views are often thought to be distant from each other, but Watson puts them in conversation. His point is not to vindicate any final interpretation of Klee but to allow his interpreters' different accounts to interact, to shed light on their and on Klee's work, and, in turn, to delineate both a history and a theoretical problematic in their midst. Crescent Moon over the Rational reveals an evolving theoretical constellation of interpretations and their questions (theoretical, artistic, and political) that address and continually renew Klee's rich legacies.

This is a new monograph examining Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology and its implications for historical rationality and the community. Maurice Merleau-Ponty is widely known for his emphasis on embodied perceptual experience. This emphasis initially relied heavily on the positive results of Gestalt psychology in addressing issues in philosophical psychology and philosophy of mind from a phenomenological standpoint. However, far less work has been done in addressing his evolving conception of how such an account influenced more general philosophical issues in epistemology, accounts of rationality, or its status of theoretical discourse. Developing the work he has already done in "In the Shadow of Phenomenology" to address this gap in the literature, Stephen H. Watson further examines the responses to Merleau-Ponty's contributions to these issues. This book emphasises the historical and intersubjective underpinnings of Merleau-Ponty's late accounts, in relation to rationality, institution and community, and examines its implications.

This is a new monograph exploring the theoretical status of Merleau-Ponty's contributions to epistemology and rationality in his account of phenomenology.Maurice Merleau-Ponty is widely known for his emphasis on embodied perceptual experience. This emphasis initially relied heavily on the positive results of Gestalt psychology in addressing issues in philosophical psychology and philosophy of mind from a phenomenological standpoint. Eventually he transformed this account in light of his investigations in linguistics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of history and institutions. Far less work has been done in addressing his evolving conception of philosophy and how this account influenced more general philosophical issues in epistemology, accounts of rationality, or its status as theoretical discourse.Merleau-Ponty's own contributions to these issues and, in particular, the theoretical status of the phenomenological account that resulted, have provoked varying responses. On the one hand, some commentators have understood his work to be a regional application of Husserl's foundational account of phenomenology. On the other hand, some commentators have questioned whether, in the final analysis, Merleau-Ponty was a phenomenologist at all.In "In the Shadow of Phenomenology", Stephen H. Watson offers an in depth analysis of these responses and the complications and development of Merleau-Ponty's position.

Tradition(s) Refiguring Community and Virtue in Classical German Thought Examining the work of Foucault, Kant, Heidegger, Hobbes, and Hegel, Stephen H. Watson tackles the questions: What is the origin of the concept of tradition? How does the notion of tradition affect our understanding of the present and the past? What exactly is tradition? Studies in Continental Thought—John Sallis, general editor 1998. 336 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 cloth0-253-33328-8$39.95 L / £30.50 paper0-253-21152-2$18.95 s / £14.50