Davis Duane - Merleau-Ponty and the Art of Perception

Merleau-Ponty and the
Art of Perception

Edited by

Duane H. Davis and William S. Hamrick

Cover Art: Marta Nijhuis, (A Trip to) Newstead Abbey, 80 100 cm, mixed media on canvas, 2005.

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

2016 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

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Production, Jenn Bennett

Marketing, Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Merleau-Ponty and the art of perception / edited by Duane H. Davis and William S. Hamrick.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4384-5959-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-4384-5960-8 (e-book)

1. Merleau-Ponty, Maurice, 19081961. 2. Perception (Philosophy) 3. ArtPhilosophy. I. Davis, Duane (Duane H.), editor.

B2430.M3764M46823 2016

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

William S. Hamrick

Duane H. Davis

William S. Hamrick

Jessica Wiskus

Marta Nijhuis

Sara J. Northerner

Bryan E. Norwood

Patricia M. Locke

Duane H. Davis

Cheryl A. Emerson

Galen A. Johnson

William S. Hamrick

Robert Switzer

Marcello Vitali Rosati

I would like to express my thanks to Professor Ivan Kolev of the Department of Philosophy in the University of Sofa, Bulgaria, for hosting and helping to organize the 2008 conference celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. I would also like to thank many friends in the International Merleau-Ponty Circlesome of whom are represented in this volumefor their inspiration and support over the years. They and other members of the Circle incarnate and keep alive the ideal of peaceful, erudite conversations that actually take steps to the truth.

William S. Hamrick

I wish to acknowledge my deepest gratitude to: Ivan Kolev for co-directing the conference in Sophia, Bulgaria, in 2008; to William S. Hamrick, who is a masterful collaboratorthe finest one could work with, and who did much more than his share of editorial work on this volume; to Andrew Kenyon of SUNY Press who provided sage counsel and constant encouragement on the project; to the friendly staff at The Universal Joint in West Asheville, who make their patio a congenial place to work; to Pounce the cat, who probably co-authored some of my best work on the patio at home; to Cheryl A. Emerson and Cynthia J. Willett, each of whom carefully read drafts of The Art of Perception , each making suggestions that resulted in a much better essay; and, again, to Cheryl, who once showed me a new meaning of dehiscence in Amarelli Aprimi il petto e vedrai scritto in core .

Duane H. Davis