The World of Perception

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice 2004 [1948]. The World of Perception. Translated by Oliver Davis. Routledge.

Käesolev teos on Merleau-Ponty raadiosaate "Prantsuse kultuuritund" transkriptsioon. Koosneb seitsmest loengust, väga lühike ja kergesti loetav.

"post-modernism denies any special status to the natural sciences" (lk 14) - so that's what that is!

"The Cartesian position notoriously alienates us from others, since it implies that we can know them only indirectly via their behaviour, which is only a detached, contingent, expression of their thoughts and feelings, and one whose interpretation we can never validate since we have no other way of finding out about the other’s thoughts and feelings." (lk 26) - sounds about right

"...our relationship to space is not that of a pure disembodied subject to a distant object but rather that of a being which dwells in space relating to its natural habitat." (lk 55) - suhe ruumiga ei ole lihtne subjekti ja objekti vaheline suhe, vaid "olemine ruumis".

"...rather than a mind and a body, man is a mind with a body, a being who can only get to the truth of things because its body is, as it were, embedded in those things." (lk 56) - kehastumus

"This is why people’s tastes, character, and the attitude they adopt to the world and to particular things can be deciphered from the objects with which they choose to surround themselves, their preferences for certain colours or the places where they like to go for walks." (LK 63) - Midagi sellist, et inimese muusikamaitset saab dešifreerida muusika kaudu mida antud inimene eelistab kuulata.

"There is a Japanese engraving which shows an Elephant surrounded by blind men." (lk 76) - Ahhaa! Sealt pärinebki see stuff of psychology readers! Elevanti uurivad pimedad mehed ja kassipoeg kes näeb peeglist lõvi on psühholoogialugemike klassika.

"Descartes showed admirably that spirit is something altogether different. He demonstrated that its nature is quite other, for smoke and breath are, in their way, things – even if very subtle ones – whereas spirit is not a thing at all, does not occupy space, is not spread over a certain extension as all things are, but on the contrary is entirely compact and indivisible – a being – the essence of which is none other than to commune with, collect and know itself. This gave rise to the concepts of pure spirit and pure matter, or things. Yet it is clear that I can only find and, so to speak, touch this absolutely pure spirit in myself. Other human beings are never pure spirit for me: I only know them through their glances, their gestures, their speech – in other words, through their bodies. Of course another human being is certainly more than simply a body to me: rather, this other is a body animated by all manner of intentions, the origin of numerous actions and words. These I remember and they go to make up my sketch of their moral character. Yet I cannot detach someone from their silhouette, the tone of their voice and its accent. If I see them for even a moment, I can reconnect with them instantaneously and far more thoroughly than if I were to go through a list of everything I know about them from experience or hearsay." (lk 82) - Kogu lehekülg on väärt materjal. Kui intersubjektiivsuseni jõuan, tuleks seda kõike üle lugeda ja tõlgendada.