KnowledgeInSight
Phenomenology for Consciousness Studies
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Course 3 · Module 4

Late Merleau-Ponty: Flesh and Chiasm

Explore Merleau-Ponty's late, unfinished philosophy of "flesh," in which perceiver and perceived are two sides of one fabric rather than a subject facing an object. You'll learn why he came to see his earlier work as still tied to a philosophy of consciousness, what flesh, reversibility, and the chiasm mean, and how they reframe the relation among mind, world, and nature. These ideas inform current work on relational and ecological approaches to mind, and on consciousness as rooted in life and nature.

Module objectives

  • Explain why Merleau-Ponty came to judge the Phenomenology of Perception as still bound to a philosophy of consciousness
  • Describe flesh, reversibility, and the chiasm as concepts for the entanglement of perceiver and perceived
  • Assess how the ontology of flesh reframes the relation among subject, world, and nature

3 lessons · 28 items · 3h 39m

Lessons

  1. Lesson 1 Flesh and Chiasm: The Self-Critique This lesson explains why Merleau-Ponty, in the working notes for The Visible and the Invisible, judged that his earlier work had started from the consciousness–object distinction… 61111h 3m
  2. Lesson 2 Flesh and Chiasm: Flesh, Reversibility, Chiasm This lesson explains the central concepts of "The Intertwining—The Chiasm": flesh as an "element" that is neither matter nor mind, the reversibility of touching and touched, and… 61111h 3m
  3. Lesson 3 Flesh and Chiasm: Subject, World, and Nature This lesson assesses what the ontology of flesh changes. Subject and world become differentiations of one fabric, and nature becomes a living whole rather than an object for a… 611111h 33m

Further reading

These are the primary texts behind the ideas in this module. Reading them is optional: explore the ones that match your interests. You don't need them to complete the module, which explains their key ideas. Each entry gives the recommended edition, free options where they exist, and where to buy or borrow it.