Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty

BIOGRAPHY/BACKGROUND

- A french philosopher, public intellectual and author.

- Born: March 14, 1908, Rochefort

- Died: May 3, 1961, Paris, France

- Cause of death: heart attack in Paris on May 3rd, at the age of 53.

- He is the son of Bernard Jean Merleau-Ponty and his mother, Julie Jeanne Marie Louse Barthé. He is the husband of,
Suzanne Merleau-Ponty.

- He argued that the body is part of the mind, and the mind is part of the body; that although there could be a stand-
alone mental faculty that perceives what the senses experience, it needs the body to receive these experiences, act on
its perceptions, and communicate with the external world. According to Merleau-Ponty, the body acts what the mind
perceives as a unified one.

Emphasizing the body as the primary site of knowing the world, Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s Idea of “self” is an embodied
subjectivity.

The term “embodied”

- verb

- means to give a body to (usually an immaterial substance like a soul).

Subjectivity, in philosophy, is the state of being a subject

– an entity that possesses conscious experiences, such as perspectives, feelings, beliefs, and desires.

Moreover, a subject

- acts upon or affects some other entity, which in philosophy is called the OBJECT.

- A subject, therefore, is something that exists, can take action, and can cause real effects (on an object).

He asserted that human beings are embodied subjectivities, and that the understanding of the “self” - should begin
from this fundamental fact. He added that the body is not a mere “house” - where the mind resides.
SOCRATES

BIOGRAPHY/BACKGROUND

- A Greek Philosopher in Athens, Greece...

- Born: c. 470 bce,

- Died: 399 bce in Athens, Greece

- Cause of death: Execution by forced suicide by poisoning.

- He is the son of Sophroniscus (probably a stonemason), his mother, a Phaenarete, a midwife. He is the husband of,
Xanthippe and they had three sons.

WRITINGS:

- He was not able to write any of his teachings and life's account

ACHIEVEMENTS:

-He is the most famous figures in world history for his contributions to the development of ancient Greek philosophy
which provided the foundation for all of Western Philosophy.

- He is known for creating Socratic method.

Unfamiliar words/terms: Socratic method - is a teaching involves asking questions repeatedly until either the student
provides an incorrect response or line of reasoning, or the teacher is satisfied with the students' responses.
Merleau-Ponty is best known for his contributions to phenomenology, in particular to phenomenological approaches to
the body, perception, and consciousness in relation to nature.

Achievements

-He won the school’s “Award for Outstanding Achievement” in philosophy in 1923.

-Awarded “First Prize in Philosophy” at Louis-le-grand in 1924.

-He was awarded the Croiz de Guerre.

-He received the agregation in philosophy in 1930, ranking in second place.

-He was promoted to the rank of Professor in the chair of Psychology in 1948.

Merleau-Ponty’s most important works of technical philosophy:

-La Structure du Comportement (1942)

-Phénoménologie de la Perception(1945)