A Quick Reponse to Merleau-Ponty

In “Eye and Mind,” Merleau-Ponty explores art, and more specifically, painting, as the act of viewing the world in a wholeness not equaled by science and philosophy. That is, art forces an encounter with the “brute meaning” of the world. This view of confronting the “brute meaning” of the world, as opposed to taking a more scientific approach, is the one preferred by Merleau-Ponty as it reinforces our sense of perception through which our consciousness is extended to the world.

            This is explained when Merleau-Ponty describes how the painter works, and the painter does so “by lending his body to the world that the artist changes the world into paintings.” This is accomplished by a complex relationship between the body and the universe in which the body sees and is seen, that is, there is a barrier between the what the body sees and itself, and there is an invisible unseen between the body and the universe, that is made visible by the painters own vision and the object’s unconcealment to the painter.

            For me, the most interesting part of Merleau-Ponty’s work is how it is different from others we have read so far this semester. Unlike Heidegger and Kant, Merleau-Ponty places the body as the center of experience and consciousness. That is because for MP, the way in which we experience the world flows through the “Eye and Mind” as opposed to simply our logic and reason. Also, MP’s beliefs are different in that it is the vision that extends from the body into the world, and in order to experience and interact with the world, one must be whole in his own body.                        
              This is summed up best, in terms of interaction with the world, with the quote “The enigma derives from the fact that my body simultaneously sees and is seen. That which looks at all things can also look at itself and recognize, in what is sees, the 'other side' of its power of looking. It sees itself seeing; it touches itself touching; it is visible and sensitive for itself.” (456). The interaction with the world does not flow through the mind, but through the body, then the mind, as a means of seeing then thinking, and at the same time, influences and is influenced by the world. Consciousness is inseparable from the body and makes all physical experiences imperative to existence and understanding, instead of just introspection or previous modes of philosophical thought.
            I personally prefer this thought on our existence and experience, as it reinforces the way I feel about how we live. Certainly, there are truths that I can reach simply through deductions and logic without much interaction with the physical world, but the our perception of lives as experiential makes us believe there is more to the world than the simple truths, and that our actions and what is acted upon in the world is constantly altering our own identity and self-truths.