Merleau-Ponty between Philosophy and Symbolism

Rajiv Kaushik is Professor of Philosophy at Brock University in Canada. He is the coeditor (with Emmanuel Alloa and Frank Chouraqui) of Merleau-Ponty and Contemporary Philosophy, also published by SUNY Press, and the author of Art, Language and Figure in Merleau-Ponty: Excursions in Hyper-Dialectic and Art and Institution: Aesthetics in the Late Works of Merleau-Ponty.

• List of AbbreviationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction Matrix Events and InstitutionSedimentation and Symbolism in InstitutionSymbolic Forms and Elemental BeingOutline of Chapters1. Matrix Events: Methods and Antecedents The Homeric DiphthongThe Platonic Dividing-CollectingThe Merleau-Pontian ecart Interrogative Method and ecart Ecart and Division in Heraclitusλόγος and ἁπτόμενον in HeraclitusSome Remaining Questions2. Space—Imagination Abstract Geometrical Essences, Morphological Ideals, and Phantasy in HusserlThe Role of Imagination in the Substruction of EssencesSculptural Shapes and the Space of ImaginationBeyond Sight and ImageSome Remaining Questions3. Light—Dark/Awake—Asleep The Light—Dark Opposition in Jean-Luc NancyLight—Dark and ElementalityWaking—SleepingDark SleepSome Remaining Questions4. Philosophy—Symbolism Dreams and PassivityThe Positive SymbolThe Positive Symbol and PsycheThe Positive Symbol, Psyche, and λέγειν The Positive Symbol in Philosophy: Analysis and the AnalyzedSome Remaining Questions5. Philosophical Language—Literary Language Ontology, Not Metaphorical OntologyFinding a Hermeneutical Reverie with ProustSome Remaining QuestionsConclusion Sedimentation, ElementalityThe Different Politics of Metaphor and SymbolismPolitics, History, and ElementsNotesBibliographyIndex

"…it is emphatically clear that Rajiv Kaushik has given us many 'intelligible mouthfuls' in the phrase of Claudel, thereby creating one of the most original books in recent studies of Merleau-Ponty's ontology. It casts light on relatively unknown or unaccented themes that disclose a 'new' Merleau-Ponty, philosopher of the event, symbol, and elements … we can all be eager to read and hear more from Rajiv Kaushik." — Research in Phenomenology"One of the best, most original books in Merleau-Ponty studies in recent years." — Galen A. Johnson, author of The Retrieval of the Beautiful: Thinking Through Merleau-Ponty's Aesthetics