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<p>This paper aims to investigate the importance of literature in Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s reflections concerning two strictly connected phenomenological themes: 1) the virtuality of objects and of existence itself; 2) the genesis of truth and the intuition of essences. According to Merleau-Ponty, modern novelists have adopted a phenomenological method: instead of ‘explaining’ the world through words, they ‘show’ the lifeworld and its paradoxes indirectly. In his view, and against Jean-Paul Sartre’s position, analyzing literature means developing a theory integrating perception and the imagination. Moreover, at the beginning of the 1950’s, this perspective led Merleau-Ponty to a deep revision of the Sartrian concepts of spontaneity and engagement in literary practice in favour of a theory of expression as style. As a conclusion, the paper argues for the key-role of literature in Merleau-Ponty’s indirect ontology as a way of rediscovering unity and harmony behind the metamorphosis of reality.</p>
</abstract>

This paper aims to investigate the importance of literature in Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s reflections concerning two strictly connected phenomenological themes: 1) the virtuality of objects and of existence itself; 2) the genesis of truth and the intuition of essences. According to Merleau-Ponty, modern novelists have adopted a phenomenological method: instead of ‘explaining’ the world through words, they ‘show’ the lifeworld and its paradoxes indirectly. In his view, and against Jean-Paul Sartre’s position, analyzing literature means developing a theory integrating perception and the imagination. Moreover, at the beginning of the 1950’s, this perspective led Merleau-Ponty to a deep revision of the Sartrian concepts of spontaneity and engagement in literary practice in favour of a theory of expression as style. As a conclusion, the paper argues for the key-role of literature in Merleau-Ponty’s indirect ontology as a way of rediscovering unity and harmony behind the metamorphosis of reality.

Virtuality and Truth. On Literature in Merleau-Ponty’s Indirect Ontology

Phainomenon

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Virtuality and Truth. On Literature in Merleau-Ponty\u2019s Indirect Ontology"}

This paper aims to investigate the importance of literature in Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s reflections concerning two strictly connected phenomenological themes:...

Virtuality and Truth. On Literature in Merleau-Ponty’s Indirect Ontology

Published Online: May 17, 2021

Page range: 69 - 84

Received: Sep 12, 2021

Accepted: Dec 03, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/phainomenon-2021-0013

Keywords
Virtuality, Truth, Literature, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre

© 2021 Paola Pazienti, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Virtuality and Truth. On Literature in Merleau-Ponty’s Indirect Ontology

Published Online: May 17, 2021

Page range: 69 - 84

Received: Sep 12, 2021

Accepted: Dec 03, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/phainomenon-2021-0013

KeywordsVirtuality, Truth, Literature, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre

© 2021 Paola Pazienti, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Virtuality, Truth, Literature, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre