The Significance of Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy of Language

8/8/2019 The Significance of Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy of Language

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The Signif icance of Merleau-

Ponty ' s Ph i losophy o f LanguageJ A M E S M . E D I E

IT IS N OW mo re th a n fo u r t e e n y e a r s s in c e w e f ir s t h e a rd o f th e u n t ime ly d e a th o f M a u r ic e

M e r l e a u - P o n t y . T o m e , a n d I a m s u re t o m a n y o t h e r s, i t s e em s m u c h l o n g er . M e r l e a u -

P o n ty h a s a l r e a d y e n te re d th e h i s to ry o f p h i lo so p h y . T h o u g h h i s Nachlass is still being

publ ished , and no t a l l o f h is wri t ings have ye t appeared in Eng l ish t ransla t ion , ph i loso-

p h e r s o f o u r g e n e ra t io n h a d a l r e a d y e n sh r in e d h i s ma jo r w o rk , t h e Phenomenology ofPerception, a s a " c l a ss i c " e v e n b e fo re h i s d e a th . B u t u n l ik e ma n y o th e r " c l a ss i c a l " p h i l -

o so p h e rs , Me r le a u -P o n ty ' s w o rk imp re sses u s b y i t s u n f in i sh e d , o p e n -e n d e d , s t il l -to -b e-

c o mp le te d c h a ra c te r . U n l ik e a S p in o z a o r a n A q u in a s , o r e v e n a H u sse r l ( " th e p e rp e tu a l

b e g in n e r" ) , h e l e f t hi s ma jo r p h i lo so p h ic a l t a sk e sse n t ia l ly in c o mp le te a t t h e t ime o f h i s

d e a th . T h o u g h w e c a n n o t c o n c e iv e o f t h e p h e n o m e n o l o g ic a l m o v e m e n t w i t h o u t h is n a m e

a n d c o n t r ib u t io n , i t i s h a rd to th in k o f Me r le a u -P o n ty ' s t h o u g h t a s su sc e p t ib l e o f g e n -

e ra t in g " d i sc ip le s . " H e a c h ie v e d n o sy s te m. S p in o z a h a s d i sc iple s; A q u in a s h a s d i sc ip le s ;

H um e has d isc ip les ; Hu sse r l has d isc ip les , and even the L ogic a l Posit iv is ts hav e d isc ip les

- - - M e r l e a u - P o n t y c a n o n l y h av e c o n t i n u at o r s , th a t i s, p e rs o n s w h o h a v e s o m e h o w m a n -

a g e d to g ra sp th e d if f ic u lt i n n e r mo v e m e n t o f h i s th o u g h t a n d w h o a re th e re b y c o m p e l l e dto t a k e u p th e p ro b le ms w i th w h ic h h e w a s w re s t l in g a n d th u s to c o n t in u e to d e v e lo p

th e m . T h e p u rp o se o f the se few b r i e f re m a rk s 1 w il l b e to o u t l in e th e s t ru c tu re o f w h a t I

take to be h is p r ima ry , unreso lv ed p rob le m a nd to assess i t s s ign ificance in a p re l im inary

w a y f o r u s c o n t e m p o r a r y p h i l o so p h e rs .

T h a t t h e t h o u g h t o f a ph i l o s op h e r w h o w a s h a p p y t o c a ll h im s e l f n o t o n l y a " p h e n o m -

e n o lo g i s t " b u t , at the same time, a " Ma rx i s t , " a n d a n " e x i s t e n t i a l i s t , " a n d w h o g lo r i e d

in h i s t i t l e a s " th e p h i lo so p h e r o f a mb ig u i ty , " sh o u ld p re se n t u s w i th a n u n f in i sh e d a n d

o p e n -e n d e d c o rp u s h a rd ly su rp ri ses u s . M o re o v e r , i t i s p o ss ib le to d e te c t , p a r t i c u la r ly in

h i s l a t e r w r i t in g s , sign s o f f ru s t r a t io n o v e r h i s n o t b e in g a b le to m a k e mo re r a p id p ro g re ss

in w o rk in g o u t th e p ro g ra m w h ic h h e h a d e x p l i c it ly fo rm u la te d a s e a r ly a s 1 9 4 6 " a s th e

ma jo r p h i lo so p h ic a l g o a l o f h is l i f e' s w o rk . T h i s g o a l w a s c e r t a in ly not unambitious; i tw a s to t a k e i ts p o in t o f d e p a r tu re in a p h e n o m e n o lo g y o f p e rc e p t io n , t h e n c e to g o o n to

a n in v e s t ig a t io n o f th e h ig h e r -o rd e r l e v e l s o f c o n sc io u s e x p e r i e n c e fo u n d e d o n p e rc e p -

t io n , f in a l ly to c u lm in a te in th e fo rm u la t io n o f a t r a n sc e n d e n ta l me ta p h y s ic s " w h ic h

w o u ld a t t h e sa m e t ime g iv e u s th e p r in c ip le o f a n e th ic s . ' s

1 This paper was read at the sym posium entitled "Merleau-Ponty: Af ter Ten Years," w h i c h

w a s held at the meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy in Pitts-burgh, October 19-21, 1972.

2 In the essay entitled "The Primacy o f Perception and its Philosophical Consequences," whichw a s a presentation of the central argument of the Phenomenology of Perception to the Socirt6fran~aise de p hilosophic, Nov embe r 23, 1946. See The Primacy o[ Perception,ed. James M. Edie

( E v a n s t o n , I l l . : N o r t h w e s t e r n U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1964), pp. 12 ft.a "A n Unpublished Text by Maurice Merleau-Ponty: A Prospectus of His W ork," in Primacy

[385]



3 86 H I S T O R Y O F P H I L O S O P H Y

I . W h e n M e f l e a u - P o n t y p r e s e n te d h i m s e l f a s a c a n d i d a te f o r a c h a ir o f p h i l o s o p h y

t o t h e b o d y o f p r of e ss o r s o f t h e C o ll bg e d e F r a n c e i n F e b r u a r y 1 9 5 2 , h e f u r n i s h e d t h e m

w i th a c o mp re h e n s iv e p la n fo r fu tu re r e se a rc h w h ic h w o u ld , b y b u i ld in g o n th e w o rk s h e

h a d a l r e a d y p u b l i sh e d in th e f ie ld s o f th e p h e n o me n o lo g y o f p e rc e p t io n , a r t , a n d h i s to ry ,

p ro c e e d to th e in v e s t ig a t io n o f th e r e a lms o f sp e a k in g a n d w r i tin g ( in a p ro je c te d w o rk to

be ca l led L a P r o se d u m o n d e ) , o f th in k in g a n d k n o w in g ( in a b o o k to b e c a l l e d L 'Or ig inede la vdrite') a n d w h ic h w o u ld , a f t e r h a v in g th u s e s t a b l ish e d a th e o ry o f t ru th , c u lmin a te

in a metaphysica l t rea t ise , L ' H om m e transcenden ta l. A s w e k n o w , n o n e o f t h e s e w o r k s

w a s c o mp le te d d u r in g h i s l i f e t ime . H e a b a n d o n e d L a P r o s e d u m o n d e ( le ss than ha l f

c o mp le te d ) th a t sa m e y e a r , 1 9 5 2 , a n d se e ms to h a v e d e f in it iv e ly lo s t i n t e res t in i t a f t e r

1 9 5 9 . 4 T h e ma n u sc r ip t s th a t h a d b e e n e n t i t le d v a r io u s ly " L 'O r ig in e d e l a v r r i t r , "

" G r n r a l o g i e d u v r a i , " a n d " l ~t r e e t m o n d e , " w e r e a l l p u t t o g e t h e r a f t e r 1 9 5 9 u n d e r t h enew rifle, Th e Vis ible and the Invis ible , the b o o k t h a t M e r l e a u - P o n t y w a s w o r k i n g o n a t

th e t ime o f h i s d e a th , w h ic h w e p o sse ss in th e p o s th u mo u s fo rm o f a h a l f - c o mp le te d

t re a ti se fo l lo w e d b y a n in t r ig u in g b u t u n f in i sh e d ma ss o f " w o rk in g n o te s . " A s fo r

L'Homme transcendental , the u l t im a t e m e t a p h y s ic a l c o n c l u si o n t o w a r d s w h i c h h e w a s

w o rk in g , th e re is h a rd ly a tr a c e e x c e p t fo r w h a t w e c a n n o w w o rk o u t fo r o u r se lv e s a lo n g

th e line s h e h a d p ro je c te d , b y d i sc o v e rin g in th e t e x t s h e h a s l e f t u s th e t ru e in t e n t io n a l

th re a d o f h i s u n f in i sh e d th o u g h t .

F r o m 1 9 4 6 o n w a r d s , o n c e t h e Phenomenology o l Percep t ion h a d b e e n c o m p l e t e d ,

M e r le a u -P o n ty b e g a n to sp e a k o f th e " imm e n se t a sk '~ w h ic h l a y b e fo re h im o f in v e s ti -

g a t in g th e r e l a t io n sh ip s w h ic h o b ta in " b e tw e e n in t e ll e c tu a l c o n sc io u sn e ss a n d p e rc e p tu a l

consc iousnessTM and o f e s tab l ish ing the reb y the d i f fe rences , s imi la r it ie s and in te rre la t ion sw h ic h o b ta in b e tw e e n " id e a l t ru th a n d p e rc e iv e d t ru th . '7 In th e P h e n o m e n o l o g y o f P e r-ception h e h a d a l r e a d y t r i e d to sh o w h o w th e l e a s t p e rc e p t io n p o sse sse s a n " id e a l o f

t r u t h , " w h i c h it c a n n o t a t e a c h m o m e n t f u l l y a c c o u n t f o r b u t w h i c h i s n e v er t h el e s s " t h e

hor izon o f i t s opera t ions . ' s

W h e n I s t a n d b e fo r e a la n d s ca p e i n t h e c o m p a n y o f a f r ie n d , a n d a t t e m p t t o p o i n t o u t

to h im th e b i rd s i tt in g o n th e l imb o f th e t r e e so me f i f ty y a rd s a h e a d o f u s , o r th e f a c e o f

th e o w l in o n e o f th e c lo u d s p a ss in g o v e rh e a d , I m a k e a d e m a n d o n h im w i th in thi s p e r -

c e p tu a l s i tu at io n th a t i s a c l a im fo r th e o b je c t iv e ly n e c e ssa ry a n d u n iv e r sa l ly v a lid t ru th

o f my o w n p e rc e p t io n s . T h e re i s n o t in th i s e x p e r ie n c e my pr i va t e wor ld j u x t a p o s e d t o

his private worm w h i c h w e c a n c o m m u n i c a t e t o o n e a n o t h e r o n l y b y u s i n g l i n g u i s t i c

s ig ns th a t e n a b le u s to a n a lo g ize e a c h o th e r ' s e x p e r i e n c e s ; r a th e r , t h e re i s g ive n b u t o n e" o b je c t iv e " w o r ld in th e p h e n o me n o lo g ic a l se n se o f " o b je c tiv e " - -- - c o r re l a tiv e to o u r

a c t s o f p e rc e p t io n a n d to a n y o th e r p o ss ib le a c t s o f p e rc e p t io n in to w h ic h w e a re b o th

" g e a re d . " I f my f r i e n d d o e s n o t y e t se e w h a t I se e , I i n s i s te n t ly p o in t i t o u t e v e n to th e

p o in t o f b e c o m in g imp a t i e n t ; I d e m a n d t h a t w h a t I se e b e se e n b y h im a l so . T h i s i s b e -

c a u se in th e sma l l e s t p e rc e p t io n th e re i s g iv e n - -a s th e v e ry meaning o f t h a t p e r c e p t i o n

of Perception, p. 11. This is the English translation of the program which Merleau-Ponty sub-mitted to the professors of the Coll~ge de France in presenting his candidacy for a chair o fphilosophy in 1952.

4 See the "Avertissement" by Claude Le fort to Merleau-Ponty, La Prose du monde (Paris,

1969), pp. i, ix-x i.Primac y o] Perception, p. 20.6 Ibid., p. 19.7 Ibid., p. 20.8 Ibid., p. 22.



M E R L E A U - P O N T Y 3 8 7

- - t h e c l ai m t h a t w h a t I se e h e r e b e f o r e m e n o w m u s t b e s e e n b y a n y o t h e r p e r c e iv e r

w h o w o u l d s ta n d w h e r e I a m s ta n d in g . T h a t m y p r e s e n t p e r c e p t i o n m a y r e q u ir e l a t e rr e v i s i o n a n d r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n i s t o t a l l y i r r e l e v a n t t o this e x p e r i e n c e o f t h e i d e a l l y o b j e c -

t i v e t r u t h o f this p e r c e p t i o n . W h a t e v e r c o r r e c t i o n s l a t e r e x p e r i e n c e m a y b r i n g t o w h a t

i s n o w a n im m e d i a te , p r e s e n t e x p e r ie n c e , m y p r e s e n t p e r c e p t u a l e x p e r i e n c e h e r e a n d

n o w o f j u s t th e s e o b j e c t s j u s t n o w b e f o r e m e r e q u i re s t h a t I r e c o g n i z e t h e m a s b e in g

o b j e c t i v e l y " t r u e , " i .e . , t h a t t h e y a r e r e a l l y t h e r e j u s t a s I p e r c e i v e t h e m . 9 A n d t h is i s a n

e i d e ti c , n o t m e r e l y a n e m p i r ic a l , c l a i m a b o u t p e r c e p t i o n .

T h e s a m e , a c c o r d i n g t o M e r l e a u - P o n t y , i s t h e c a se f o r t h e e x p e r ie n c e s o f f r e e d o m ,

c h o i c e a n d v a l u e . L i k e a l l o t h e r e x p e r i e n c e s , e v a l u a t i v e e x p e r i e n c e s t a k e p l a c e i n t e m -

p o r a l s e q u e n c e s w h i c h a r e u n d e r g i rd e d b y t h e p e r c e p t u a l a w a r e n e s s o f m y b e i n g in a

" p l a c e " ( i . e . , m y b o d y ) t h r o u g h t i m e . S ince e v e r y p e r c e p t u a l e x p e r i e n c e , i n t u rn , i s a

" p r o j e c t " ( i. e ., a l e a p t o w a r d s t h e n o t - y e t - e x p e r i e n c e d f u t u r e ) w i th i n a f ie l d o f p o s s i b il i -t i es , and s ince w h a t e v e r a s p e c t o f a t h i n g I m a y b e p r e s e n t l y g i v e n i s s u r r o u n d e d a n d

e s c o r t e d b y a n i n f i n i t e f i e l d o f o t h e r p o s s i b l e p r e s e n t a t i o n s a n d o t h e r p o s s i b l e e x p l o r a -

t i o n s o f t h i s s a m e th ing , to say t h a t t h i s t h in g i s n o w p r e s e n t e d t o m e f r o m t h is g i v e n a n g l e

i s t o i m p l y t h a t t h e r e i s n o i n t r i n s i c n e c e s s i t y f o r i t s b e i n g s o p r e s e n t e d , t h a t i t c o u l d b ep r e s e n t e d o t h e r w i s e , a n d t h a t i n f a c t I e x p e r i e n c e w h a t e v e r p e r c e p t u a l o b j e c t s m a y b e

g i v e n to m e a s b e i n g e x p e r i e n c e d a n d a s b e i n g e x p e r i e n c e a b l e f r o m a n i n d e fi n it e n u m b e r

o f o t h e r p e r s p e c t i v e s - - - p e r s p e c t i v e s w h i c h I d o n o t n o w o c c u p y de lac to , b u t w h i c h I

cou ld , a t l e a s t i n p r i n c i p l e , o c c u p y d e j u re . T h u s t h e r e i s a s u b j u n c t i v i t y t o p e r c e p t u a l

e x p e r i e n c e w h i c h is t h e e x p e r i e n c e d p e r c e p t u a l f o u n d a t i o n o f f r e e d o m . S i n c e n o p a r t i c u -

l a r a p p r o a c h t o r e a l i t y i s f a t a l l y i n s c r i b e d e i t h e r i n n a t u r e o r i n h i s t o r y , t h e r e i s a m a r g i n

o f i n d e t e r m i n a c y f o r h u m a n f r e e c h o i c e w h i c h i s t h e f o u n d a t i o n o f " o b j e c t i v e " v a l u e . 1 ~

A c c o r d i n g t o M e r l e a u - P o n t y , t h e r e f o r e , p e r c e p t i o n a s t h e m o s t b a s i c s t r a t u m o f e x -

p e r i e n c e " i s o u r p r e s e n c e a t t h e m o m e n t w h e n t h in g s , t ru t h s , v a l u e s a r e c o n s t i t u t e d f o r

u s ; . . , p e r c e p t i o n i s a n a s c e n t l o g o s ; . . , i t t e a c h e s u s , o u t s i d e a f i d o g m a t i s m , t h e t r u e

c o n d i ti o n s o f o b j e c t i v i t y ; . . , i t s u m m o n s u s t o t h e t a sk s o f k n o w l e d g e a n d a c t io n . ''1 1

T h e r e i s h e r e n o q u e s t io n " o f r e d u ci n g h u m a n k n o w l e d g e t o s e n s a ti o n ," b u t r a t h e r o f

r e c o v e r i n g " t h e c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f r a t io n a l i t y " t h a t f iv e s i n p e r c e p t u a l c o n s c i o u s n e s s a n d

t h a t f o u n d s t h e u n i t y t h a t w e e x p e r i e n c e b e t w e e n a l l t h e d i v e r s e l e v e l s o f i n t e n t i o n a f i t y .

M e r l e a u - P o n t y d o e s n o t a t t e m p t t o r e d u c e t h e h i g h e r - o r d e r s t r u c t u r e s o f t h o u g h t a n d

v a l u e t o p e r c e p ti o n b u t ra t h e r t o s h o w h o w t h e m o s t f u n d a m e n t a l s tr u c tu r e s o f p e r c e p -

t i o n r e a p p e a r i n a t r a n s f o r m e d a n d m o r e c o m p l e x , b u t s t i l l r e c o g n i z a b l e , m a n n e r i n s u c hh i g h e r - o r d e r a c t i v i ti e s a s s p e a k i n g , th i n k i n g , r e a s o n i n g , im a ~ n i ~ g , c h o o s i n g , e v a l u a t i n g ,

k n o w i n g , e tc . T h u s w e s e e t h a t t h e p h e n o m e n o l o g y o f p e r c e p t io n l e a d s t o t h e p o s i n g o f

t h e q u e s t i o n o f t h e r e l a ti o n s h ip s w h i c h o b t a i n b e t w e e n p e r c e i v i n g c o n s c i o u s n e s s a n d a ll

t h e o t h e r le v e l s o f c o n s c i o u s n e s s t h a t a r e " f o u n d e d " i n it .

F o r t r a d i t i o n a l p h i l o s o p h e r s M e r l e a u - P o n t y ' s Phenorneno logy o f Percep t ion a p -

p e a r e d t o b e , o n f i rs t r e a d in g , a r a t h e r s t r a n g e d o c u m e n t . I n w h a t o t h e r , h i s t o ri c a l a c -

c o u n t o f p e r c e p t i o n w a s i t e v e r f o u n d n e c e s s a r y t o i n c l u d e d i s c u s s i o n s o f s e x u a l i t y , a f -

f e c t i v i t y , t h o u g h t (cogito), f r e e d o m , t e m p o r a l it y , a n d e v e n o f m a t h e m a t ic a l a n d f o r m a l

r e a s o n i n g ? A r e these , a l so , percep t ion? C l e a rl y , th e p h e n o m e n o l o g y o f p e rc e p t i o n , i n

o Ibid., p. 17.lo Phenomenology of Perception, tr. Colin Smith (New York: Humanitie s Press, 1962), pp .

414-439.11 Primacy of Perception,p. 25.



3 8 8 H I S T O R Y O F P H I L O S O P H Y

M e r l e a u - P o n t y ' s e y e s, in v o lv e s t h e w h o l e o f p h i l o s o p h y a n d l e a ds u s i n t o a n e w w a y o f

p o s in g th e mo s t fu n d a me n ta l q u es t ion s .In th i s p a p e r w e a re c o n c e rn e d o n ly w i th th e c e n t ra l t h re a d , n a m e ly th e in v e s tig a t io n

o f th e r e l a tio n sh ip b e tw e e n th o u g h t ( l a n g u a g e -u s in g c o n sc io u sn e ss ) a n d p e rc e p t io n ( th e

p re lin g u is t ic o b je c ti f ic a t io n o f th e w o r ld ) . T h i s i s t h e s tu d y o f th e n e x u s o f th e se v a r io u s

s t ru c tu re s o f e x p e r i e n c e w h ic h H u sse r l t e rme d Fundierung . F o r M e r l e a u - P o n t y t h i s

p ro b le m to o k th e fo rm o f a sp e c ia l i n v e s tig a t io n o f th e r e l a t io n o f a p r io r i t ru th to f a c tu a l

o r e m p i r i ca l t r u th , a n d i t l e d h i m t o a t t e m p t t o s h o w t h a t t h e y w e r e s o m e h o w m u t u a l l y

imp l i c a t in g , o n ly tw o fa c e t s o f th e sa me e x p e r i e n c e , a p p a re n t ly s i tu a te d w i th in a c o n -

t in u u m o f e x p e r i e n c e , r a th e r th a n b e in g a b so lu te ly a n d a p o d ic t i c a l ly o p p o se d a s tw o

d i f f e re n t w a y s o f k n o w i n g .

Thus every ]actual truth is a rational truth, and vice versa. The relation of reason to fact,or e te rn i ty to t ime , l ike tha t o f re f lec tion to the unre f lec t ive , o f tho ugh t to language o r o fth o u g h t to p e rc e p t io n i s th i s tw o -w a y re l a tio n sh ip th a t p h e n o me n o lo g y h a s c a l le d Fundie-rung: the found in g te rm, o r o r ig ina to r- - t im e , the unre f lec t ive , the fac t , language , pe rcep-t ion is p r im ary in the sense tha t the originated i s p resen ted as a de te rmina te o r exp l ic i tf o r m o f the originator, w h ic h p re v e n ts th e l a t te r f ro m re a b so rb in g th e fo rme r , a n d y e t th eoriginator i s no t p r imary in the empir ic is t sense and the originated i s n o t simply derived,since it is through the originated that the originator is made mani/est.TM

I I . T h i s s e e m s t o m e t o b e o n e o~ t h e m o s t p r e g n a n t a n d i m p o r t a n t s t a t em e n t s o f

h i s fu n d a me n ta l p ro b le m th a t M e r le a u -P o n ty h a s l e f t u s . I t i s a th e s is th a t s t a n d s a t t h e

c e n te r o f h i s w o rk ; i t is n o t so me th in g th a t e i th e r h e o r H u sse r l c l a ime d to h a v e d e m o n -s t r a t e d ; i t i s r a th e r th e f r a me w o rk o f th e i r p h e n o me n o lo g ic a l i n v e s t ig a t io n s , a w o rk in g

h y p o t h e s i s th a t w o u l d h a v e t o b e w o r k e d o u t b y a g e n e r a t io n o f p h e n om e n o l o g is t s . A n d

i t s e e m s - - l e t u s a d m i t i t a t o n c e - - t o p r e s e n t u s w i t h a lm o s t in s u p e ra b le p r o b l e m s . O n

th e o n e h a n d th e re i s t h e " o b je c t iv i ty " c h a ra c te r i s t i c o f p e rc e iv e d o b je c t s in th e r e a l

wo rld ; on the o the r han d the re i s the "o b je c t iv i ty" charac te r is t ic o f such idea l ( l inguist ic )

e n t i t i e s a s a n a ly t i c a n d sy n th e t i c a p r io r i t ru th s a n d th e i r logical impl ica t ions . In h is

m e m o i r to t h e C o l l~ g e d e F r a n c e o f 1 9 5 2 M e r l e a u - P o n t y w r o t e :

I fo u n d in th e e x p e r i e n c e o f th e p e rc e iv e d w o r ld a n e w ty p e o f r e l a t io n b e tw e e n th emi nd an d t ru th . Th e ev idence o f the pe rce ived th ing l ie s in i t s concre te a spec t , in the v e ry

tex tu re o f i t s qua l i t ie s , and in the equ iva lence among a l l i t s sensib le p roper t ie s- -whichcaused Cezanne to say tha t one shou ld be ab le to pa in t even odors . Before ou r un d iv idedex is tence the world i s t rue ; i t ex is ts . Th e u n i ty , the a r t icu la t ions o f b o th a re in te rm ing led .W e e x p e r i en c e in i t a t ru th w h ic h sh o w s th ro u g h a n d e n v e lo p s u s r a th e r th a n b e in g h e lda n d c i r c u msc r ib ed b y o u r m in d .TM

H e n c e th e p ro p e r p h i lo so p h ic a l a p p ro a c h to th e p ro b le ms o f p e rc e p t io n i s n o t to a sk ,

f ro m th e s t a n d p o in t o f a d o g ma t i c a l ly r a t io n a l is t i c th e o ry o f t ru th , w h e th e r w e reallyp e rc e iv e th e w o r ld , b u t r a th e r to b e g in w i th th e p h e n o m e n o lo g ic a l d e c is io n to c a l l w h a twe in Sact perceive " t h e w o r l d . " A s h e s a y s i n a n o t h e r p l a c e : " T h e [ p er c ei v ed ] t h i n g

12 Phenomenology of Perception, p. 394; italics mine.18 "An Unpublished Te xt .. ." in Primacy of Perception, p. 6.



M E R L E A U - P O N T Y 3 8 9

i m p o s e s i t s e lf n o t a s t r u e f o r e v e r y i n t e ll e c t, b u t a s r e a l f o r e v e r y s u b j e c t w h o i s s t a n d i n g

wh ere I am. ''14B u t i t i s c h a r a c t e r i s ti c o f p e r c e p t u a l t r u t h a n d o f p e r c e p t u a l r e a l i t y to b e a l w a y s i n c o m -

p l e t e , s u b j e c t t o r e v i s io n , n e v e r a d e q u a t e l y g i v e n , i n t ri n s ic a l ly i n n e e d o f r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n

i n t h e f u t u r e , a n d t h u s s u b j e c t t o a p r o c e s s o f u n e n d i n g a n d n e v e r c o m p l e t a b l e v e r i f i c a -

t io n . A n y e m p i r ic a l f a c t in o r a b o u t t h e w o r l d c a n n e v e r h a v e m o r e t h a n a " p r e s u m p t i v e "

va l id i ty .

T h i s d o e s n o t s e e m t o b e t h e c a se , h o w e v e r , f o r " t h e f ie l d o f k n o w l e d g e p r o p e r l y s o

c a l l e d i . e. , t h e f i el d i n w h i c h t h e m i n d s e e k s t o p o s se s s t h e t r u t h , t o d e f i n e i ts o b j e c t s

i ts e lf , a n d t h u s t o a t t a i n t o a u n i v e r s a l w i s d o m , n o t t i e d t o t h e p a r t i c u l a r i ti e s o f o u r s i t u a -tion."15

M e d e a u - P o n t y t h u s r e c o g n iz e s t h e s h a r p d i s ti n ct io n b e t w e e n " f a c t u a l t r u t h " a n d

" r a t i o n a l t r u t h . " I t is c h a r a c t e ri s t ic o f a p r io r i t r u t h s t o b e t r u e i n d e p e n d e n t o f a n y a p p e a lt o e x p e r i e n c e . S i n c e t h e y a r e b a s e d o n l a n g u a g e r a t h e r t h a n o n t h a t t o w h i c h l a n g u a g e

e n a b l e s u s t o r e f e r ( i . e . , t h e r e a l w o r l d ) , t h e y a r e m a t t e r s o f m e a n i n g o n l y a n d a r e t h u s

i d e a ll y i n d e p e n d e n t o f t h e w o r l d o f real f a c t s a n d e v e n t s .

W e a r e , t h e r e f o r e , c o n f r o n t e d w i th a n apor ia a n d w e a r e p e r p l e x e d . M e r l e a u - P o n t y

de l igh ted in such pe rp lex i t i e s (aporiaO. A t t he sa m e tim e , w e a r e - - f r o m t h e b e ~ n n i n g - -

in n o d o u b t a b o u t w h a t M e r l e a u - P o n t y ' s conc lus ion i s g o i n g to b e . B u t w e a r e s o m e t i m e s

u n c e r t a i n a b o u t h o w h e i s g o i n g t o r e a c h i t , a s h e u n d o u b t e d l y w a s a l s o - - - s i n c e h e w a s

unab le to f in i sh h i s book on T h e O r i g i n o f T r u t h . H e a d o p t s , h e t e l l s u s , a " m e t h o d o l o g i -

c a l r a t i o n a l i s m " ( a s o p p o s e d t o t h e " d o g m a t i c r a t i o n a l i s m " o f a H e g e l ) , TM b y w h i c h h e

m e a n s a c o n c e p t u a l , a n d t h e r e f o r e e i d e ti c , i n v e s t ig a t i o n o f t h e m e a n i n g o f v a r i o u s k i n d s

o f e x p e ri e n c e . B u t h o w d o e s t h e e i d o s e m e r g e i n e x p e r i e n c e ?

I n h i s p h e n o m e n o l o g y o f p e r c e p t i o n h e s h o w e d t h a t w e a r e g i v e n a s in g le , o b j e c t i v e l y

u n i f i e d " w o r l d , " c o n d i t i o n a l l y " t r u e " f o r a n y p o s s i b l e e x p e r i e n c e r ( t h i s " l i v e d w o r l d "

b e i n g t h e o n l y fi el d w i t h in w h i c h h u m a n c h o i c e a n d a c t i o n c a n t a k e p l a c e ) . L a t e r , i n h i s

h i s to r i c al w r it in g s h e d e v e l o p e d t h e n o t i o n o f

the idea o f a s ing le h i s to ry o r o f a log ic o f h i s to ry [which i s ] impl ied in the l eas t humanexchange , in the l eas t soc ia l pe rcep t ion . For example , an th ropo logy supposes tha t c iv i l i za -t ions ve ry d i f fe ren t f ro m ou rs a re compre hens ib le to us , tha t they can be s i tua ted in re la -t ion to ours and v ice -ve rsa , tha t a l l c iv i l i za t ions be long to the same un ive rse o f though t ,since the least use o~ language implies an idea o/ truth. A l s o w e c a n n e v e r p r e t e n d t o d i s-m i s s th e a d v e n t u r e s o f h i s t o r y as s o m e t h i n g f o r e i g n t o o u r p r e s e n t a c t io n , s i nc e e v e n t h em o s t i n d e p e n d e n t s e a rc h f o r th e m o s t a b s t r a c t t ru t h h a s b e e n a n d i s a f a c t o r o f h i s to r y . . .A l l hum an ac t s and a l l hum an c rea t ions cons t i tu te a s ing le d ram a , a nd in th i s sense we a rea l l saved o r los t tog e the r . Our li/e is essentially universal. 17

F i n a l l y , t h o u g h h e f e a r e d a n d d e n i g r a t e d H u s s e r l ' s a t t e m p t t o e s t a b l i sh t h e b a s i s f o r a

u n i v e r s a l , a p r i o r i , f o r m a l g r a m m a r , n e v e r t h e l e s s i n h i s w r i t i n g s o n t h e p h i l o s o p h y o f

l a n g u a g e a n d p a r t i c u l a r ly i n h i s tm f i n i~ h e d a n d u n p u b l i s h e d L a P r o se d u m o n d e h e d e -

v e l o p e d h is o w n e x p l a n a t i o n o f t h e u n i v e r s a li t y o f m e a n i n g a n d i n t e n t i o n w h i c h is p o s t u -

a4 Primacy of Perception, p. 17.

in "An Unpub li shed T e x t . . . " in Primacy o! Perception, p. 6.le Ibid., p. 10.1T Ibid.; italics mine.




la ted i n t h e v e r y a t t e m p t o f o n e ma n to a d d re ss a n o th e r . T h e re a re n o t , h e c o n c lu d e s in

th i s ma n u sc r ip t , m a n y l a n g u a g e s : " to b e p re c i se , " h e w r i t e s , " th e re i s o n ly o n e la n g u a g ei n a s t at e o f b e c o min g . u s

B u t o u r p r o b l e m i s n o t t o d i s c o v er f r o m h is t e x t s w h a t M e r l e a u - P o n t y s a w e i t h e r as

th e p o in t o f d e p a r tu re o r a s th e u l t ima te g o a l o f h i s o w n th o u g h t ; t h i s i s p e r fe c t ly c l e a r.

O u r p r o b l e m i s w i t h w h a t s t a n d s in b e t w e e n . F o r h i s p a r t , h e p ro c e e d s d ia le c t ic a l ly , u s in g

a n e x i s te n ti a li s t v e r si o n o f w h a t a n a l y ti c a l p h il o s op h e rs c a ll " R a m s e y ' s M a x i m . " R a m -

se y ' s Ma x im s t a t e s th a t i n th o se c a se s in w h ic h a p p a re n t ly a n t i th e t i c a l o r c o n t ra d ic to ry

p o s i t i o n s - - n e i t h e r o f w h i c h i s s a t i s f a c t o r y P a r e i n c o nf li c t, " i t i s a h e u r i st ic m a x i m t h a t

th e t ru th l i e s n o t in o n e o f th e tw o d i sp u te d v ie w s b u t in so m e th i rd p o ss ib i l it y w h ic h h a s

n o t y e t b e e n th o u g h t o f , w h ic h w e c a n o n ly d i sc o v e r b y re j e c t in g so m e th in g a ssu me d a s

o b v io u s b y b o th o f th e d i sp u ta n t s . '1 9

Me r le a u -P o n ty ' s me th o d i s t o r e c o n c i l e tw o o p p o se d p o s i t io n s in a h ig h e r sy n th e s i sw h ic h w i l l e x p la in w h y e a c h o f th e a l t e rn a tiv e s is i n d i sp u ta b ly r ig h t f ro m i ts o w n p e r sp e c -

t iv e b u t y e t m a k e s a n e r ro r ( in th e fo rm o f so m e fa t a l a s su mp t io n ) w h ic h is , fo r th e

sa k e o f th e e l e g a n c e o f th e p re se n ta t io n , fo u n d to b e th e s a m e o n b o t h s i d e s P a n d t h en

to sh o w th a t , o n c e th i s e r ro r i s e l imin a te d , b o th o f th e su p p o se d ly c o mp e t in g e x p la n a -

t io n s ca n b e i n c o r p o r a t e d in a n e w a n d m o r e c o m p r e h e n s i v e e x p l a n at i o n w h i ch n o w a c -

c o u n t s fo r b o th w i th o u t c o n c e d in g th e r ig h t c o mp le te ly to e i th e r . T h u s in d i sc u ss ing th e

re l a t io n s b e tw e e n n e c e ssa ry , u n iv e r sa l ly v a l id , a n d th e re fo re a p r io r i ( " c o n c e p tu a l " )

t r u th s o n t h e o n e h a n d a n d p e r c ep t u a l t r u t h o n t h e o t h e r, M e r l e a u - P o n t y d e n ie s t h e r i g ht s

of ne i the r s ide ; he accep ts a l l the ev idence which the ra t iona l is ts and empir ic is ts have

a c c u mu la te d , a n d y e t a t t e mp ts to sh o w th a t t h e se a re n o t n e c e ssa r i ly tw o o p p o se d , a b -

so lu te ly d i f fere n t , c o m p le te ly i so la b le w a y s o f k n o w in g , b u t th a t o n e i s " fo u n d e d " o n

th e o th e r . P e rc e p tu a l c o n sc io u sn e ss , w h ic h o p e ra te s a c c o rd in g to th e d u m b ru le s o f o b -

j e c t iv i ty w h ic h g o v e rn th e c o n s t i tu t io n o f p e rc e p tu a l o b je c t s ( a n d w h ic h a re r e v e a le d in

a p h e n o me n o lo g y o f p e rc e p t io n ) g iv e s u s th e r e a l w o r ld o f th in g s a n d e v e n t s , a n d th isw o r ld o f p e rc e p t io n is th e " fo u n d in g t e r m " o r , h e sa y s , t h e " o r ig in a to r" o f th o u g h t . T h e

s t ru c tu re s o f th o u g h t a re th e re fo re o f a d i f fe re n t o rd e r f ro m th e s t ru c tu re s o f p e rc e p t io n

w h i c h a re " a b s o l u t e l y " p r i o r t o t h o u g h t ~ b u t a t t h e sa m e t i m e i t i s o n l y t h r o u g h

th o u g h t th a t t h e s t ru c tu re s o f p e rc e p t io n a re " ma d e ma n i fe s t . "

We n e e d n o t d w e l l o v e r a f e w a l r e a d y w e l l -u n d e r s to o d p o in t s . C le a r ly th e se n se o f

" o r ig in " o r " p r io r i ty " h e re i s n o t t e m p o ra l o r h i s to r ic a l , b u t lo g ic a l ; t h e sa m e c o n sc io u s -

n e ss w h ic h p e r c e i v e s t h e w o r ld a l so t h in k s i t , a n d l a n g u a g e (o r th o u g h t ) i s c o n te m p o ra n e -ous wi th the s i len t ob jec t i f ica tions tha t su rrou nd i t and tha t i t enab les us to a r t icu la te .

S e c o n d ly , w e n e e d n o t d w e l l o n Me r le a u -P o n ty ' s o b v io u s d e l ig h t in sh o w in g th a t c a t e -

g o r ia l , c o n c e p tu a l th in k in g t a k e s t ime , th a t e v e ry n e w th e o ry a n d e v e ry n e w id e a o r ig i-

n a te s in d e te rmin a te c u l tu ra l su r ro u n d in g s a s th e a n sw e r to so me d e te rmin a te q u e s t io n ,

th a t e a c h id e a c a r ri e s it s " d a te " a n d h a s i t s " b i r th p la c e , '2 ~ s inc e th is w o u ld b e a d m i t t e d b y

empir ic is ts and in te l lec tua l is ts a l ike and in no way a ffec ts the log ica l independence o f

18 La Prose du monde, p. 56. Also see my article, "Was Merleau-Ponty a Structuralist?"Semiotica, IV (1971), 315 ft.

19 F. P. Ramsey, The Foundations o[ Mathematics, pp. 115-116, as quoted by Renford Bam-brough in "Universals and Family Resemblances," in Wittgenstein, ed. George Pitcher (Garden

City, N.Y.: Anchor B ooks, 1966), p. 198. I am indebted to M argaret U rban Coyne for first point-ing out Ramsey's maxim to m e; I h ad earlier described Merleau-Ponty's meth od in the P h e n o m -enology o f Perception in just this way; see Semiotica, IV, 299ff.

zo Primacy of Perception, p. 20; Phenom enology o] Perception, p. 386.



M E R L E A U - P O N T Y 3 9 1

w h a t & t h o u g h t f ro m i t s p sy c h o lo g ic a l a n d h i s to r ic a l c o n d i t io n s .

W h a t i s mo re im p o r ta n t i s t o se e th e w a y in w h ic h a n a p r io r i t ru th c a n b e f i t t e d in ton e w h i s to r ic a l c o n te x t s a n d th u s h a v e i ts s ig n if i ca n c e a l t e re d , n o t o n ly w i th r e fe re n c e to

th e r e a l ly p e rc e iv e d w o r ld b u t a l so w i th r e fe re n c e to o th e r c a t e g o r i a l sc h e me s th a t i t i t s e lf

" f o u n d s " o r m a k e s p o s si bl e. " O n c e l a u n c h ed , a n d c o m m i t t e d to a c e r t a in s e t o f t h o u g h t s ,

E u c l id e a n sp a c e , fo r e x a m p le , o r th e c o n d i t io n s g o v e rn in g th e e x i s t e n c e o f a c e r t a in so -

c i e ty , I d i sc o v e r e v id e n t t ru th s ; b u t th e se a re n o t u n c h a l l e n g e a b le , s in c e p e rh a p s th i s

sp a c e o r th i s so c ie ty a re n o t th e o n ly o n e s p o ss ib le . I t i s t h e re fo re o f th e e sse n c e o f c e r -

ta in ty to be es tab l ished on ly wi th rese rva tions . . . ,,~.x

M e r l e a u - P o n t y o r c h es t r at e s h is m e d i a ti n g v i e w p o i n t w i t h e x a m p l e s t a k e n f r o m g e o m -

e t ry . T h i s i s p a r t i c u la r ly p e r t in e n t in a smu c h a s g e o me t r i c a l t ru th s f ig u re mo s t p ro mi -

n e n t ly a mo n g th o se w h ic h su c h a rc h - ra t io n a l i s t s a s H u sse r l u n e q u iv o c a l ly s i tu a te d in

" t h e k i n g d o m o f t r u t h , " a s n o t b e in g i n a n y w a y d e p e n d e n t o n e m p i r i ca l e x p e ri e n ce o rsc ie n c e , a s b ein g s t ri c tly a p r io ri , k n o w n d e d u c t iv e ly f ro m se l f -e v id e n t a x io ms , in d e p e n -

d e n t o f t i m e a n d o f a n y a n d a l l "p s y c h o l o g i s m . "

M e r l e a u - P o n t y t a k e s a s h i s p r i m a r y e x a m p l e o u r p e r c e p t u a l i n t u i t i o n o f t h e e i d o s

" t r i a n g le . " H i s a rg u m e n t h e re i s b a se d o n a n a n a ly s is o f o u r a c tu a l, i n tu i tiv e " p e rc e p -

t io n " o f th e e id o s " t r i a n g le " w h ic h p re c e d e s a n d " fo u n d s" a l l t h e l a t e r a n d d e r iv e d d e -

d u c t io n s a n d p ro o fs w h ic h w e ma y fo rm u la te l i n g ui s ti c a lly a b o u t th i s e id o s . F o r in s t a n c e ,

i f I w a n t to p r o v e tha t the ang les o f a t r iang le a re equa l to two r igh t ang les , such a t ru th

i s n o t e v id e n t f ro m th e in sp e ct io n o f th e f ig ure o f th e t r i a n g le a n d i s n o t k n o w n s imp ly

f ro m th e fa c t t h a t , h a v in g g ra sp e d th e e id o s " t r i a n g le " I a m a b le to r e p e a t th e o p e ra t io n

of recogn iz ing t r iang les-- -as dosed , th ree -s ided , rec t i l inea r f igures-- - in an indef in i te

n u m b e r o f e mp i r i c al fig u re s . F r o m m y p e rc e p tu a l g ra sp o f th i s e id o s I c a n p ro c e e d to a

concep tua l ( i .e . , ve rba l ) exp l ica t ion o f wha t th is e ssence impl ies fo r ob jec t ive thought ,

su c h a s , fo r in s t a n ce , p ro v in g th a t t h e su m o f i t s a n g le s e q u a l s tw o r ig h t a n g le s .

The necess i ty o f the p roo f i s no t an an a ly t ic necess i ty : the cons t ruc t ion wh ich enab les theconc lusion [namely , tha t the ang les o f a t r iang le a re equa l to two r igh t ang les] to bereached is no t rea l ly con ta ined in the essence o f the t r iang le , bu t me re ly poss ib le when tha tessence serves as a s ta r t ing po in t . There i s no d e f in i t ion o f a t r iang le [such as a "c losed ,th ree -s ided , rec t i l inea r f igure"] which inc ludes in advance the p roper t ie s subsequen t ly tob e d e m o n s t ra t e d a n d th e in t e rme d ia te st ep s l e a d in g to th a t d e mo n s t ra t io n . E x te n d in g o n eside , d rawing th ro ugh the apex a l ine pa ra l lel to the opposi te s ide , in t roduc ing the th eore m

re la t ing to pa ra l le ls and the i r secan t , these s teps a re poss ib le on ly i f I conside r the t r iang lei tse l f a s i t i s d rawn on the paper , on the b lackboard o r in the imagina t ion , wi th i t sphysiog nom y, the concre te a r ran gem ent o f i t s l ines , in sho r t i t s Ge stalt. ~2

In sh o r t , t h e fo rma l i z a t io n o f th is p ro o f i s a lw a y s a " re t ro sp e c t iv e " d ra w in g o u t o f th e

re l a t io n sh ip s w h ic h a re a l r e a d y g iv e n d u mb ly in p e rc e p tu a l in tu i t io n . " F o rma l th o u g h t

fe e d s o n in tu i tiv e th o u g h t , " h e sa y s , a n d in r e a l i ty t ru e c e r t a in ty a r ise s f ro m in tu it iv e e x -

p e r i e n c e , " e v e n th o u g h , o r r a th e r prec i se ly because , the pr inc ip les [made exp l ic i t by

fo rm a l th o u g h t ] a re t a c i t ly as su me d th e re . " W i th o u t th e p r imo rd ia l i n tu i tio n " th e re w o u ld

b e n o e x p e r i e n c e o f t ru th , " n o r w o u ld th e re b e a n y p o ss ib i l i t y o f th in k in g fo rma l ly " v i

21 Phenomenology of Perception, p. 396.22 Ibid., p. 385. I am indebted to the graduate students who too k m y Merleau-Ponty seminar

last sp ring for seve ral impo rtant insights into the problem s being discussed here, in p articularMargaret Urban Coyne and Harrison Hall.




f o r m a e . . , i f f o r m a l r e la t i o n s w e r e n o t f i r s t p r e s e n t e d t o u s c r y s t a l li z e d i n s o m e p a r t i c u -

l a r t h i n g . " T h e a b i l i t y t o t h i n k o u t t h e c a t e g o r i a l i m p l i c a t i o n s o f t h e t r u t h a l r e a d y g i v e ni n p e r c e p t u a l e x p e r i e n c e i s s u e s i n l i n g u i s t i c s t a t e m e n t s w h i c h m u t u a l l y i m p l i c a t e e a c h

o t h e r a n d t h u s h a v e t h e d e m o n s t r a t i v e v a l u e o f d e d u c e d t r u t h s " b e c a u s e I c a u s e [ t h i s

d e m o n s t r a t i o n ] t o e m e r g e f r o m t h e d y n a m i c f o r m u l a o f t h e t r i a n g l e . I t e x p r e s s e s m y

p o w e r " t o t h i n k no le ss than t o p e r c e i v e " t h e t r i a n g l e ' s s t r u c t u r e . "

I ' cons ide r ' the t r i ang le , wh ich i s fo r me a se t o f l ines wi th a ce r ta in o r ien ta t ion , and i fw o r d s s u c h a s ' a n g l e ' o r ' d i r e c t i o n ' h a v e a n y m e a n i n g f o r m e , i t i s i n s o f a r a s I p l a c em y s e l f a t a p o i n t , a n d f r o m i t t e n d t o w a r d s a n o t h e r p o i n t , i n s o f a r a s t h e s y s t e m o f s p a ti a lp o s i ti o n s p r o v i d e s m e w i t h a f ie l d o f p o ss i b le m o v e m e n t s . . . I n s o f a r a s th e t r i a n g l e [ i s]impl ied in my ho ld on the wor ld , i t [ i s ] burs t ing wi th indef in i t e poss ib i l i t i e s o f which the

c o n s t r u c t i o n a c tu a l l y d r a w n w a s m e r e l y o n e . . . . F a r f r o m i ts b ei n g t h e c a s e t h a t g e o -m e t r i c a l t h in k i n g t r a n s c e n d s p e r c e p t u a l c o n s c i o u sn e s s , it i s f r o m t h e w o r l d o f p e r c e p t i o nt h a t I b o r r o w t h e n o t i o n o f e s s e n c e. I bel ieve tha t the t r i ang le has a lways had , a n d a l w a y swi l l have , ang les the sum of whic h equ a l s two r igh t ang les, a s we l l a s al l the o the r l e ss ob-v i o u s p r o p e r t i e s w h i c h g e o m e t r y a t t r i b u t e s t o i t , b e c a u s e I h a v e h a d t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f area l t r i ang le , and because , a s a phys ica l th ing , i t necessa r i ly ha s with in i t se l f eve ry th ingtha t i t has ever been ab le , o r eve r wi l l be ab le , to d i sp lay . Unless the th ing pe rce ived hadf o r e v e r im p l a n t e d w i t h in u s t h e i d e a l n o t i o n o f b e i n g w h i c h i s w h a t i t i s, t h e r e w o u l d b en o p h e n o m e n o n o f b ei n g . . . W h a t I c al l t h e e s se n c e o f th e t r ia n g l e i s n o t h i n g b u t t hi sp r e s u m p t i o n o f a c o m p l e t e d s y n th e s is , i n t e r m s o f w h i c h w e h a v e d e f i n e d th e t h i n g 3 a

T h e s e r e f l e ct i o n s e n a b l e u s to s e e h o w c e r t a i n s u p p o s e d l y a t e m p o r a l t r u t h s a n d r e l a -

t i o n s h ip s c a n l a t e r b e f i tt e d i n t o n e w c o n t e x t s a n d n e w h o r i z o n s o f t h o u g h t a n d e x p l a n a -

t i o n i n w h i c h t h e y w i ll t a k e o n n e w s i g n if i ca n c e , a n d i t a l s o s h o w s t h a t e v e n i n a p u r e l y

e i d e ti c s ci e n c e l i k e g e o m e t r y t h e c o n t e n t o f t h i s s c i en c e , a t a n y o n e p a r t i c u l a r h i s t o r ic a l

p e r i o d , d i f f e r s f r o m t h a t o f o t h e r s , in t h e f u n c t i o n o f t h e q u e s t i o n s w h i c h a r e a s k e d , a n d

i n t h e p a r t i c u l a r p o ss ib i li ti e s w h i c h a r e c h o s e n a m o n g t h o s e p r e s e n t w i t h i n t h e w h o l e f i e ld

o f " i n f i n i t e p o ss i b il i ti e s " i m p l i e d i n o r i g i n a r y e x p e r i e n c e .

I I I . N e v e r t h e l e s s , w e c a n s till a s k w h e t h e r t h is i s a c o m p l e t e l y s a t i s f a c t o r y a c c o u n t

o f t h e r e l a t io n s o f t h o u g h t t o p e r c e p t i o n , a n d e s p e c i a ll y w h e t h e r i t i s fu l l y c a p a b l e o f g i v -

i n g a s a t i s f a c to r y m e a n i n g t o t h e s u r p r i s i n g s t a t e m e n t w i t h w h i c h w e b e g a n , n a m e l y t h a t

" e v e r y f a c t u a l tr u t h is a r a t i o n a l t r u t h , a n d v ice versa . TM H a s M e f l e a u - P o n t y c l e a r l ys h o w n - - - o r o n l y a s s e r t e d - - t h a t t h e " r e a l t r i a n g l e . . , a s a p h y s ic a l t h i n g . . , necessari lyha ~ w i t h i n it s e l f " a ll it s i d e a l m a t h e m a t i c a l p r o p e r t i e s ? H e s a y s t h a t t h e " e s s e n c e [ e i d o s]

o f t h e t r i a n g l e " i s n o t h i n g o t h e r t h a n t h e i d e a l p r e s u m p t i o n o f t h e k i n d o f " c o m p l e t e d

s y n t h e s i s i n t e r m s o f w h i c h w e h a v e d e f i n e d t h e t h i n g . " B u t t h e r e i s t h i s d i f f i c u l t y : t h e

p e r c e p t u a l s y n t he s is o f t h e v a r i o u s p o s s i b l e p r e s e n t a t i o n s o f a p h y s i c a l t h i n g c a n n e v e r ,

i n p r i n c i p l e , b e c o m p l e t e d , w h e r e a s t h e e i d e t i c i n t u i t i o n o f t h e m a t h e m a t i c a l p r o p e r t i e s

o f such th ings as t r i ang les can b e a d e q u a t e l y (as we l l a s apod ic t i ca l ly ) e s tab l i shed on the

b a si s o f t h e m o s t i n a d e q u a t e l y g i v e n e x a m p l e , a n d w i t h o u t e v e r r e tu r n i n g t o t h e " r e a l "

e x a m p l e a g a i n a t a ll . Is t h e r e o n l y a d i f f e r e n c e o f d e g r e e h e r e ?

T h e d i f f i c u lt y i s t h a t c e r t a i n t r u t h s , a m o n g t h e m g e o m e t r i c a l a n d o t h e r l o g ic a l a n d

m a t h e m a t i c a l t r u t h s ( t o l e a v e o u t o f a c c o u n t a l t o g e t h e r t h e s y n t h e t i c a n d m a t e r i a l a

2a Ibid., pp. 3 85 , 38 6, 388; italics mine.24 Phenomenology of Perception, p. 394.



M E R L E A U - P O N T Y 3 9 3

p r i o r i s l u r k i n g i n t h e b a c k g r o u n d ) a r e formal ly t r u e , a n d c a n t h u s b e k n o w n t o b e t r u e

i n v i r t u e o f t h e i r c o n c e p t u a l c o n t e n t a l o n e a n d w i t h o u t r e f e r r in g t h e m b a c k t o e x p e r i e n c e .W h a t w e m e a n b y a r a t i o n a l t r u t h i s t h a t i t c a n n o t p o s s i b l y b e f a l se a n d t h a t i t s t r u t h c a n

b e e s ta b l is h e d i n d e p e n d e n t l y o f f u t u r e e x p e r i e n c e . R a t i o n a l t r u t h s c a n b e f i t t e d in t o n e w

c o n t e x t s ; t h e y c a n b e m o r e f u l ly d e v e l o p e d a n d m o r e f u l l y c o m p r e h e n d e d a t s o m e f u t u r e

t i m e t h a n t h e y a r e n o w , b u t i t w ill n e v e r t u r n o u t t h a t t h e y w e r e s i m p l y f a ls e . O n t h e c o n-trary, f a c t u a l t r u t h s a b o u t " r e a l " a n d " p h y s i c a l " t h i n g s a r e g i v e n i n p e r c e p t u a l p r e s e n t a -

t io n s w h i ch m u s t b e f o r e v e r in c o m p l e t e a n d s u b je c t t o f u t u r e c o r r e c t i o n . A n y f a c t u a l

t r u t h c a n t u r n o u t t o b e f a ls e ; i ts o n l y " n e c e s s i t y " is t h a t i t w i ll a l w a y s r e m a i n t r u e t h a t i t

appeared t o m e , o r t o m y c u l t u re , o r t o m y h i s to r ic a l e p o c h , t o h a v e b e e n t r u e a t s o m e

t i m e , a n d i t m a y b e t h a t i t is t h a n k s t o m y ( o r o u r ) t e mp o r a r y a c c e p t a n c e o f it s t r u t h t h a t

w e a r e n o w a b l e t o r e a c h a n e w s y n t h es i s in w h i c h i t i s st ill i n c o r p o r a t e d b u t w i t h i n t h e

c o n t e x t o f w h i c h i t is n o w s e e n t o h a v e b e e n " f a l s e . " This i s the o n l y k i n d o f " n e c e s s i t y "p e r c e p t u a l t r u t h c a n h a v e , n a m e l y , a s p r o v i s i o n a l , r e v i s i b l e , a t a n y t i m e n o m o r e t h a n

p r e s u mp t iv e ly " n e c e s s a r y , " " u n i v e r s a l , " o r " t r u e . '2 5 T h i s i s n o t w h a t w e u n d e r s t a n d b y

c o n c e p t u a l o r a p r i o r i t r u t h .

T h e m e r e f a c t t h a t " l i n g u i s ti c t r u t h , '2 8 i f w e c a n c a l l it t h a t , o r i g in a t e s f r o m e x p e r i e n c e

and can r e f e r b a c k t o e x p e r i e n c e d o e s n o t s e e m t o b e s u f fi c ie n t t o account lor the r a d i c a l

d i s ti n c t io n b e t w e e n m e a n i n g a n d r e f e r e n t i a li t y w h i c h l a n g u a g e i n t r o d u c e s i n t o e x p e r i -

e n c e , a n d t h e r e f o r e in t o t h e a r t i cu l a ti o n o f th e e x p e r i e n c e d w o r l d . T h e p r o b l e m s o f t h e

i n t e r r e l a t i o n s o f s p e e c h a n d p e r c e p t i o n a r e n o t all s o l v e d s i m p l y b y s h o w i n g t h a t

l a n g u a g e -u s i n g - co n s c i o u s n es s i s a l o g i ca l ly p o s t e r i o r e x p l i c i t a t io n o f w h a t p e r c e p t i o n h a s

a l r e a d y a c c o m p l i s h e d , b e c a u s e , e v e n i f t h is b e t h e c a s e , i t m a y b e t h a t w e h a v e t h e a r t i c u -

l a t e d w o r l d o f p e r c e p t i o n t h a t w e h a v e p r e c i s e l y b e c a u s e o f t h e p o t e n t i a l i t i e s t h a t t h e

l in g u is ti c e x p r e s s i o n o f m e a n i n g i n t r o d u c e s i n t o e x p e r i e n c e . M e r l e a u - P o n t y c l e a r l y b e g a n

t o w o n d e r w h e t h e r t h i s m i g h t n o t b e t h e c a s e i n t h e l a s t p a g e s o f h i s c h a p t e r o n " T h e

C o g i to " in the P h e n o m e n o lo g y o [ P e r c e p t io n , a n d t h i s u n s e t t l i n g p r e m o n i t i o n s e e m s t o

h a v e b e e n t h e v i t a l i m p e t u s b e h i n d h i s m o r e a n d m o r e e x c l u s i v e t u r n t o t h e s t u d y o f

l a n g u a g e . H i s i m p a t i e n c e a t n o t b e i n g a b l e to f i n d t h e k e y t o h is p e r p l e x i ti e s m u s t a c -

c o u n t f o r h i s a b a n d o n i n g L a P r o s e d u mo n d e , a s w e l l a s f o r hi s fi n a l a t t e m p t a f t e r 1 9 5 9

t o c h a n g e h i s m i n d a b o u t p u b l i s h i n g L'Or ig ine de la v~r i tL W e w i l l n o t , o f c o u r s e , a t -

t e m p t t o a c c o m p l i s h h e r e w h a t h e h i m s e l f w a s i n c a p a b l e o f , b u t o n l y t o i so l a te th e c e n t r a l

t h r e a d o f h is t h o u g h t o n t h e s e p r o b l e m s a n d t o suggest a n e x p l a n a t i o n f o r h i s i n a b i li t y t o

accompl i sh h i s t a sk .F r o m t h e s i m p l e h i s t o r i c a l f a c t t h a t f r o m t h e y e a r s 1 9 4 9 - 1 9 5 0 o n w a r d s M e r l e a u -

P o n t y ' s w r i t i n g s o n l a n g u a g e b e g i n t o m u l t i p l y g r e a t l y i n n u m b e r , w e m a y w o n d e r

w h e t h e r h e w a s e v e r s a ti sf ie d w i t h th e m a n n e r i n w h i c h h e h a d c l a i m e d t o r e s o l v e th e r e l a -

t i o n s b e t w e e n " f a c t u a l t r u t h " a n d " r a t i o n a l t r u t h " i n t h e P h e n o me n o lo g y o [ P e r c e p t io n .B u t e v e n m o r e p e r t i n e n t e v i d e n c e o f h i s d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h h i s e a r l y s o l u t i o n o f t h i s

2~ Ibid., p. 377.26 I am using this term in a very vague sense here. I am not taking sides for or against K ant,

w h o would say that the a priori is what consciousness has put into things, or for or against aphilosopher of language like Garver, who would say that the a priori is a "gramm atical" ma tter.(See Newton Ga rver, "Analyticity and G ram m ar," The Monist, 51 [1967], 397 ft.) I am very

sympathetic to the latter approach so long as by "gra mm ar" one understands the whole o f l inguis-tic usa ge, and with the proviso that the relation o f thinking to using language be understood inthe manner in which Husserl understands it in Formal and Transcendental Logic. This is ob-viously not the place to go into these ditticult problems. I am usin g "linguistic" in this con tex t asa s y n o n y m f o r "thought ."




problem i s p rov ided by the obse rva t ion t ha t h is ph i losophy of l anguage grow s cons ide r -

ably more complex, that i t in t roduces a radical re interpreta t ion of the "ges tural" theoryof language espo used in his ear ly wr it ings , and that i t t akes up no t only the cen t ra l focal

po int of all his later philosophical thoug ht , b ut that i t also take s on the role o f beco m ing

the essential paradigm in t erms o f which w e are f inal ly ask ed, in The Visible and the In-visible, to un ders tand even pe rceptua l consciousness it se lf .

T ime does no t pe rmi t me to r epea t , o r even to summar i ze, w ha t I have a l r eady a rgued

elsewhere on this point , but i t is important to note that in his inaugural lecture at theCol l tge de France in 1953, and consis tent ly thereaf ter , par t icular ly in La Prose dum o n d e , he credits Saussure (and l inguist ic structural ism general ly) with providing us

wi th a " theory of s igns" that i s not only a bet ter bas is for a phi losophy of his tory than

any th ing we f i nd in Hege l o r M arx , bu t a l so fo r a " n ew concep t ion o f r eason" i n its r e l a-

t ion to the othe r m odalit ies of exp erience. 27In t he Pheno meno logy o] Perception his chap te r on " Th e B od y as Express ion and

Speech , " t hough an impor t an t pa r t o f t he whole p ro j ec t , d i scusses t he phenomenon of

l inguist ic expression as but one aspect ( integral but at the same t ime peripheral) of the

percep tual object i ficat ion of objects . H e sees- - -a thes is he never re t racted n or ev er

n e e d e d t o r e t r a c t - - t h a t words have a "ges tural" funct ion and are , indeed, l ike gestures

in that they exp ress a mean ing w hich is no t object i f iable or express ible wi thout thei r ph y-

s ical " incarnat ion" in bodi ly acts . M eanings are not "a t tached to" w ords , any m ore thanthey are to gestures; ra ther w ords and ges tures are the v ery lived condi t ions of the po ss i -

bi l ity of the ex press ion of meaning a t a l l . Fo r this reason (which is ful l of very imp or tant

implications that I cann ot go into here) the stud y of language has a place, tho ugh a lim-i ted and subordinate one, wi thin the archi tectonic of the Phenomenology of Percept ionas a whole . I t a l so has a place because of the preconceptual , "af fect ive ," "exis tent ia l , "

level of meaning w hich phonem ics int roduces into the object i f icat ion of things b y en ab-

l ing us to grasp and express thei r "emot ional essence" pr ior to conceptual izat ion-- - in

the very melody and intonat ions of the phonemic modulat ions of a par t icular language.In his later wri t ings, primari ly under the influence of Saussure and structural l inguis-

t ics, he great ly extends the role of langua ge in his theoret ical exp lana tion of the vario us

object i ficat ions which const i tute the wo r ld of ob jects am ong which w e l ive .

Th e f i rs t s tep in this de velopm ent was to e labo rate a the ory o f the re la tionship of lan-

guage and speech to "s i lence." This he accomp l ished in the w r it ings which date f ro m the

per iod of his assuming his new c hai r a t the Col l~ge de France . 2s W e ca nno t pu rsue this incomple t e deta il he re , b u t it is poss ib l e t o ge t som e idea o f wha t M ede au-P on ty m eans b y

the "s i lence" which surrounds language and enables it to occur as speech if we recognize

the dis t inct ion between/a langue and la parole, which he w as e laborating a t th is t ime. O n

the one hand speech-acts , exercises of /a parole, i ns t i t u t e / a langue and make i t l ive , but

27 See Semiotica, IV, 304.9s Particularly in "On the Phenomenology of Language" (1951), in Signs, tr. Richard C. Mc-

Cleary (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1964), pp. 84--97; in "Indirect Languageand the Voices of Silence" (1951), in Signs, pp. 39-83; in the completed sections of La Prose dumonde; and in several of his courses at the Coll6ge de France (the outlines of which are publishedin Themes from the Lectures at the Colldge de France, 1952-1960, tr. John O'Neill [Evanston,

Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1970]). For a complete bibliography of Merleau-Ponty'swritings on language in his "middle period" see Semiotica, IV, 303-304.



M E R L E A U - P O N T Y 3 9 5

on the other hand speech i t se l f i s poss ible only on the background of a l l the subunder-

stoo d phonological , m orpho logical , and syntact ical rules, as well as within th e co ntex tof the par t icular lexicon, of ou r langue. W e u se la langue in the w a y w e u s e o u r b o d i e s ,

wi th out thoug ht and w i thout explici t consciousness of the s t ructures which we are br ing-

ing into act ion a t any one point . T he f ir st mean ing of the "s i lence" w hich mak es speech

poss ible i s that of /a langue, which does not i t se l f speak but which i s the ground of a l l

speech. This "s i lence" i s not unst ructured; i t i s highly determinate . Moreover- -and this

i s even more impor t an t - -our ac tua l ac t s o f speak ing , t he speech-ac t s o f la parole ( o u r

par t icular usages of ou r com m on language in each par t icular case) , resul t in a kind of

"coherent deformat ion" of the a l ready sedimented meanings and intent ions which form

the s i lent background for our speech and which i s const i tuted of a l l the forms, a l l the

linguistic institutions of the historical trad ition o f ou r distinctive linguistic culture. W e

speak, in short , with a complex, determinate and already art iculated matrix of l inguist ics t ructures as a background, which a t each ins tant enables our speech-acts to take place ,

and thus enab les us to bre ak the s ilence and to say som ething new in authent ic a nd or igi-nal acts of meaning. Thus la parole br ings about a constant dis locat ion and cont inuing

change in la langue. W e m a y u s e t h e s a m e w o r d s a s w e h a v e u s e d o n p r e v i o u s o c ca s io n s ,

or the same words as the great thinkers and phi losophers , the c lass ical wr i ters of our

l i terary t radi t ion have used, but the meaning of these words i s never ful ly grasped andt ransmi t ted o nce and fo r a ll ; the very meaning of our wo rds i s it se lf a l imi t -concept wh ich

eludes speech b y a lways escaping bey on d i t in to the t ranscende ntal s ilence of the realm

of conceptual thought , wh ich, while polarizing ou r a t tempts a t express ion, a lways escapes

us t o so me ex t en t , and thus a lways l eaves room for mo re t o b e sa id , fo r ou r langue t o b e

used b y count l ess o the r speaker s and wr i t er s fo r their purposes and fo r their intentions.

An d the ir purposes and intentions wil l , in turn, introduce us into n e w realms of linguistic

meaning, which are never theless comprehensible and communicable to a l l on the bas is

of a comm on under s tand ing and accep tance o f the s t ruc tu res o f this language, an accep -

t ance o f comm on ru les which is sufficient fo r a ll purposes o f com munica t ion , b u t w hich

is never ful ly adequate to br ing express ion to com plet ion.But unfor tunate ly , Mer leau-Ponty nei ther f inished nor ever publ i shed the f inal sys-

temat ic developm ent of these theses abo ut language in La Prose du monde . Thus in his

middle pe r iod he did no t even achieve the unif ication of his incipient thoughts on the

phi loso phy of language-- -which we f ind in the ple thora of essays he w rote dur ing those

years on var ious i sola ted aspects of l inguis t ic meaning and express ion, and on the phi l -oso ph y of language in general in any finished theoret ical form.

F ina lly , we mus t obse rve tha t f rom 1959 onwards he a t t empted to i ncorpora t e h i s

incipient ref lect ions on a theory of "Speech and Si lence" into the much broader f rame-

w o r k o f The Visible and the Invisible. The background s i lence of la langue and the con-

text of discourse which enables authent ic acts of new speaking to take place , i s but o n eof the s t ructures of what , in his f inal work, he cal led " the invis ible . " The ul t imate s ig-

ni f icance of his thought , par t icular ly as a phi losopher o f language co ncern ed w i th the re-

la t ionship o f language to percep t ion and to t ruth , l i es in working o ut the th eory o f speech

and percept ion that he sketched in this f inal , pos thumously publ i shed volume.

Aga in , we can do no m ore he re t han de l ineat e t he genera l p rob lemat ic and r e l a t e t he

theory presented in The Visible and the Invisible to his cent ra l problem of the re la t ion-ship be tween thought (o r language) on t he one hand to pe rcep t ion on the o the r . L e t m e




s k e t c h o u t v e r y b r i e f l y t h e fi n al p r o p o s a l h e m a d e o n t h i s m a t t e r i n t h e d o s i n g p a g e s o f

T h e V i s i b l e a n d t h e I n v i s ib l e .. 2 9 M e r l e a u - P o n t y h e r e a t t e m p t s t o s h o w t h a t t h e h u m a nb o d y , a s a s y s t e m o f s t r u c t u r e d p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r f u t u r e a c t i o n , w h i c h a r e r e a l i z e d i n t h e

" o b j e c t i fi c a t io n " a n d i n t h e v e r y " d i s c o v e r y " o f p e r c e p t u a l o b j e c ts , i s " s t r u c t u r e d l i k e

l a n g u a g e . " L a n g u a g e , a s h e s a w i t, f o ll o w i n g S a u s s u r e , i s a " d i a c r i t ic a l , r e l a ti v e , o p p o s i -

t i o n a l s y s t e m " o f e l e m e n t s w h i c h a r e n o t " a b s o l u t e " b i t s o f m e a n i n g , b u t r a t h e r o n l y

" d i v e r g e n c i e s " (~c ar t s ) su f f ic ien t to en ab le us to e s tab l ish a sys te m o f l ingu is ti c s igns o r

w o r d s ( in w h i c h a ll t h e p h o n o l o g i c a l , m o r p h o l o g i c a l a n d s y n t a c t i c a l s t r u c t u r e s o f o u r l a n -

g u a g e t e r m i n a t e , b e c a u s e , a f t e r a l l , l a n g u a g e i s c o n s t i t u t e d o n l y o f w o r d s ) , w h i c h t h e m -

s e lv e s h a v e m e a n i n g f o r u s o n l y b e c a u s e t h e y a r e o p p o s a b l e , a c c o r d i n g t o r u l e , t o a l l t h e

other l inguis t ic s igns or w o r d s , o f t h e s a m e c a t e g o r y a n d l e v e l , t h a t o u r l a n g u a g e p e r m i t s .

I t i s t h e t a s k o f t h e p h i l o s o p h e r o f l a n g u a g e , u l t i m a t e l y , t o s h o w h o w l i n g u is t ic s t r u c t u r e s

m i r r o r a n d a n a l o g i z e th e s t r u c t u r e s o f p e r c e p t i o n a n d t h u s e n a b l e u s t o u n d e r s t a n d t h es t r u c t u r e s o f a c t i o n w h i c h g i v e u s o u r p r i m o r d i a l m o t i v e s f o r d i s t i n g u i s h i n g o n e o b j e c t ,

o r a n y a s p e c t o f an o b j e c t , f r o m a n y o t h e r , a n d h o w t h e y t h u s p r o d u c e , e m a n a t i n g f r o m

t h e a c t i v e s u b j e c t ( a s a n e m b o d i e d c o n s c i o u s n e s s ) , t h e a c t u a l l i v e d w o r l d o f o u r p e r c e p -

t u a l e x p e r i e n c e .

J u s t a s w e s a y t h a t i t i s a p a r t o l t h e m e a n i n g o f a c o l o r a d j e c t i v e i n t h e E n g l i s h l a n -

g u a g e ( s u c h as , f o r in s t an c e , " r e d " o r " b r o w n " ) t h a t a n y o t h e r c o l o r a d j e c t i v e i n t h e

l e x i c o n o f t h a t l a n g u a g e c o u l d ( f r o m t h e p o i n t o f v i ew o f p u r e l y f o r m a l s y n t ac t ic a l a n a l-

y s is ) t a k e i t s p l a c e , a c c o r d i n g t o r u l e , i n a g i v e n l in g u i st ic s t r in g , s o M e r l e a u - P o n t y w a n t s

t o s a y t h a t c o l o r s t h e m s e l v e s , a s p e r c e i v e d , a r e n o t s o m u c h " t h i n g s " a s " a d i f f e r e n c e

b e t w e e n t h i n g s . " L e t m e r e f e r b r i e fl y t o h i s a n a l y si s o f t h e p e r c e p t i o n o f t h e c o l o r " r e d " . "

A punc tua t ion in the f i e ld o f r ed th ings , which inc ludes the t i l e s o f roof tops , the f l ags o fg a t e k e e p e r s a n d o f t h e R e v o l u t i o n , c e r t a i n t e r r a i n s n e a r A i x o r M a d a g a s c a r , i t i s a l s o ap u n c t u a t i o n i n t h e f ie l d o f r e d g a r m e n t s , w h i c h i n c l u d e s, a l o n g w i t h t h e d r e ss e s o f w o m e n ,r o b e s o f p r o f e s s o r s , b i sh o p s , a n d a d v o c a t e g e n e r a ls , a n d a l so i n t h e f i e ld o f a d o r n m e n t sa n d t h a t o f u n i f o r m s . A n d i t s r e d l i te r a l ly is n o t t h e s a m e a s i t a p p e a r s i n o n e c o n s t e l la t i o nor in the o the r , a s the pure essence o f the Revo lu t ion o f 1917 p rec ip i t a tes in i t , o r tha t o ft h e e t e r n a l f e m i n i n e , o r t h a t o f t h e p u b l i c p r o s e c u t o r , o r t h a t o f t h e g y p s ie s d re s s e d l i k eh u s s a r s w h o r e i g n e d t w e n ty - f iv e y e a r s a g o o v e r a n i n n o n t h e C h a m p s - E ly s 6 e s . A c e r t a i nr e d i s a l s o a f o s s i l d r a w n u p f r o m t h e d e p t h s o f i m a g i n a r y w o r l d s . I f w e t o o k a l l t h e s epar t i c ipa t ions in to accoun t , we would rec ogn ize tha t a naked co lo r , and in gen era l a v is ib le ,

i s no t a chunk o f abso lu te ly ha rd , ind iv i s ib le be ing , o f fe red a l l naked to a v i s ion whichc o u l d b e o n l y t o t a l o r n u l l, b u t i s r a t h e r a s o r t o f s t ra i ts b e t w e e n e x t e r i o r h o r i z o n s a n d i n -t e r i o r h o r i z o n s e v e r g ap i n g o p e n , s o m e t h i n g t h a t c o m e s t o t o u c h l i g h t l y a n d m a k e s d i v e r s ereg ions o f the co lo red o r v i s ib le wor ld resound a t the d i s tances , a ce r ta in d i f fe ren t ia t ion ,a n e p h e m e r a l m o d u l a t i o n o f t h is w o r l d - - l e s s a co l o r o r a t h in g , t h e r e [ o r e t h a n a d i f f e r e n c eb e t w e e n t h i n g s a n d c o l o r s . . . s o

O n e c o n c l u s i o n o f t h i s a n al y s is w o u l d b e t h a t t h e i de a l i t y t h a t p h i l o s o p h e r s o f l a n g u a g e

a t t r i b u t e t o t h e w o r d i s m i r r o r e d i n t h e i d e a l it y ( o r " i n v i s i b i li t y " i n o n e o f t h e m a n y i m -

p e r f e c t l y d i s ti n g u i sh e d s e n s es t h a t M e r l e a u - P o n t y g iv e s t o t h is t e r m ) o f w h a t w o r d s t h e m -

~9T h e s e a r e

the "final pages"w e

have; they weren o t t h e

end he himself planned for this un-completed hook.a0 The Vis ible andthe Inv i s ible , ed. Claude Lefort, tr. Alphonso Lingis (Evanston, Ill.: N o r t h -

w e s t e r n University P r e s s , 1 9 6 8 ) , p . 1 3 2 ; italics m ine.



M E R L E A U - P O N T Y 3 9 7

selves refer to . T h e re s imp ly i s n o su c h th in g a s a n e x p e r i e n c e o f " re d " i t sel f ; e v e ry e x -

p e r i e n c e i s o f a " p a r t i c u la r r e d th in g " w h ic h i s o p p o sa b le to e v e ry o th e r (q u a l i t a t iv e lyd i s tin g u ish a b le) in s t a n c e o f w h a t w e w o u ld b e d i sp o se d to t a k e ( fo r c u l tu ra l r e a so n s w e

h a r d l y u n d e rs t a n d ) a s a n o t h e r " r e d " t h in g . I n s h o r t , t h e e x p er i en c e o f " r e d " ( a n d o f a n y

o th e r c o lo r ) i s a lw a y s th e e x p e r ie n c e o f a n in s t a n c e o r a n e x a m p le o f " r e d , " a n d th u s i t

a lw a y s imp l i e s th e su b u n d e rs to o d ru le s w h ic h d e te rmin e w h a t i s t o c o u n t fo r u s a s a n

e x a m p l e o f " r e d " a n d w h a t is to b e r e j e ct e d a s be i n g " o f a n o t h e r c o l o r . " H o w e v e r f i ne

th e d i sc r imin a t io n s o f th e c o lo r a d je c t iv e s o f o u r n a tu ra l l a n g u a g e , o r o f o u r p r iv a te

id io le c t o f th a t l a n g u a g e , w e w i ll n e v e r e sc a p e th e c o mp o n e n t o f id e a l i ty in v o lv e d in o u r

(cu l tu ra l ly an d in te rsub jec t ive ly de te rm ined) se lec t ive , pe rcep tua l pe rce iv ing o f co lo rs .

In sh o r t , t h e s t ru c tu re s o f p e rc e p t io n a re , fo r Me r le a u -P o n ty , s t r i c t a n a lo g u e s o f th e

s t ru c tu re s o f l an g u a g e . C o lo r s a re a s " id e a l " a s p h o n e m e s : th a t i s , t h e a c tu a l e x p e r i e n c es

o f w h a t w e c a ll r e d o b je c t s are to th e c o lo r " r e d " w h a t r a w p h o n e t i c s is t o th e id e a l l a w so f p h o n e mic s . T h e p h o n e me s (a n d th e s y n ta g ma t i c a n d p a ra d ig m a t i c ru l e s o f th e i r o p -

p o sa b i l i ty ) th a t c o n s t i tu t e th e p h o n o lo g ic a l sy s t e m o f a n y g iv e n n a tu ra l l a n g u a g e a re ,

str ic t ly as p h o n e m e s , n o t so u n d s a t a l l . T h e y a re n o t th e r a w p h o n e t i c ma te r i a l w h ic h

g iv e n h is to r ic a l sp e a k e r s a c tu a l ly p ro d u c e ; th e y a re , i n f a c t , never ac tua l ly spoken , bu to n ly me a n t .

L e t m e g i ve m y o w n e x a m p l e. I f o n e u t t e r s th e s o u n d " p " i n t h e E n g li s h la n g u a g e, o n e

uses the p h o n e m e / p / . T h i s / p / m a y b e a sp ir ate d, a s i n pin , o r u n a sp i ra t e d , a s in sp in ,s inc e in E n g l i sh w e d o n o t d i s tin g u ish ( as so m e o th e r l a n g u a g e s d o ) b e tw e e n th e se tw o

(a sp i rat e d a n d u n a sp i ra t e d ) so u n d s w h ic h a re p o te n t i a l ly se p a ra te p h o n e m e s . O n e n e v e r

d o e s a n d o n e i s n e v e r e x p e c te d to p ro d u c e o n tw o se p a ra te o c c a s io n s e x a c t ly th e sa me

p h o n e t i c so u n d s , t h e sa me ra w p h o n e t i c m a te r ia l ; t h is i s n e i th e r n e c e ssa ry n o r su f f ic i e n t

fo r u n d e r s t a n d in g , a n d i s , i n a n y c a se , a p h y s ic a l imp o ss ib i l i t y . Wh a t is n e c e ssa ry a n d

su f fi c ie n t i s t h a t w h a te v e r is u t t e re d , a c c o rd in g to th e s y n ta g ma t i c a n d p a ra d ig m a t i c sy s -

t e m o f p h o n o lo g ic a l o p p o sa b le s w h ic h a re d e te rm in e d b y th e p h o n o lo g y o f th a t l a n g u a g e ,

b e me a n t a n d r e c o g n i z e d a s th e s a me p h o n e me w h ic h a lo n e c a n h o ld th a t p a r t i c u la r

p la c e in th a t p a r t i c u la r p h o n o lo g ic a l sy s te m. F o r in s t a n c e , i f so m e o n e sp e a k in g th e E n g -

l is h l an g ua g e s y st em a ti ca ll y r ep la ce s th e p h o n e m e / p / b y t he p h o n e m e / b / , n o m a t t e r

h o w b a d th e a c c e n t , n o ma t t e r h o w d e fo rme d th e r a w p h o n e t i c ma te r i a l , I w i l l c e a se to

h a v e a n y d i f f ic u l ty a t a l l i n c o mp e n sa t in g fo r a n y n u m b e r o f v a r io u s c o m p le x p h o n e t i c

v a r i a tio n s o n c e I h a v e g ra sp e d th e a b s t r a c t l a w s o f th is p a r t i c u la r p h o n o lo g ic a l sy s t e m.

P h o n e me s a re n o t r e a l so u n d s a t a ll ; t h e y a re , r a th e r , t h e id e a l e l e me n t s w h ic h a re o p p o s -a b le, a c c o rd in g to ru le, t o a ll t h e o th e r lim i t e d n u m b e r o f p h o n e m e s w h ic h c o n s t i tu t e th i s

p a r t i c u la r l a n g u a g e . I t w a s M e r le a u -P o n ty ' s b e l ie f t h a t a s imi l a r s tru c tu re o f " d ia c r i t i c a l ,

r e l a t iv e , o p p o s i t io n a l " ru l e s g o v e rn s p e rc e p t io n a n d a l l o th e r fo rms o f o b je c t i f i c a t io n ,

a n d th is b e li e f u n d e r l i e s h i s fin a l a n d m o s t m a tu re a t t e mp t to r e l a t e th e v a r io u s o rd e r s o fin ten t iona l i ty to one ano ther . 81

E v e n w i th o u t fu r th e r d e v e lo p in g th i s p re g n a n t a n a lo g y w e se e th e a s to n i sh in g d e v e l -

o p me n t o f Me r le a u -P o n ty ' s o r ig in a l p ro je c t w h ic h i s h e re b ro u g h t to th e fo re . Wh e re a s

h e h a d o r ig in a l ly b e g u n w i th th e v e ry H u sse r l i a n th e s is th a t l i n g ui s ti c me a n in g i s

3z T he thesis mentioned here is dealt with som ewhat more fu lly in m y paper o n "T he Present

Status of the Phenomenology of Language," which was read at the F ifth Lexington Conferenceon P ure and A pplied Phenomenology, "Language and L anguage Disturbances," Lexington, Ken-tucky, April 13-15, 1972. Published as Language and Language Disturbances, ed. Erwin W.Strauss, (Duquesne University Press, 1974).




"fotm ded " in the perceptual ar ticulat ion of objects , in his final wo rk he w as a t tem pt ing

to unders tand the perceptual ar t icula tion o f the wor ld o n the analogy of linguis tic s t ruc-t ur e. N o b o d y - - n o t e v e n M e r l e a n - P o n t y - - c o u l d k n o w w h e t h e r th is n e w a n d v a s tl y m o r e

com prehen sive invest igation wo uld provide u s wi th a definit ive theo ry of the pro per w ay

in which to inter re la te the s t ructures of "perc eptua l consciousn ess" and " linguis tic con-

sciousn ess," bec aus e he left us while sti ll in the m idst o f thinking ou t his o w n first syste-

ma t ic s ta temen t of what such a task w ou ld involve.I submit , therefore, that this central thread of his thought , which unites his f inal work

to his ear l ies t preoccupat ion wi th the thes is of the "pr imacy of percept ion," and the a t -t empt t o und er s tand and a r t icu l a te t he phenom enolog ica l concep t o f Fundierung within

a com ple t ed phenom enology of t he exper i enced wor ld , is t he deepes t bas is fo r h i s con-

t inued and urgent ly present contempora ry s i~ i f i cance fo r ph i losophy , pa r t i cu l a r ly be -

cause th is i s a t a sk sha red no t on ly by p henom enolog i s ts bu t by a ll con temp ora ry ph i loso-phers o f language and the speech-act .

Northwestern University

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The Significance of Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy of Language

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