Abstract

The dissertation examines the issue of perception, where perception is understood as a double radicality--of openness and appropriation--which grounds the very possibility of a historical subject. This basic definition of perception represents the intersection of Merleau-Ponty's notion of "perceptual faith" and Heidegger's notion of perception as "primordial decision." The dissertation assumes the premise that Merleau-Ponty, like Heidegger, constantly seeks to understand how the modern form of perception becomes a fixed and apparently solid birthright of contemporary experience, a birthright which obscures all other possible perceptual forms. Thus, the dissertation takes up the question of how perception is an "impure" phenomenon, one which owes much of its structure and power to other--equally impure--issues, such as language, technology, and history, as well as certain theological impulses. ;The dissertation explores some of the perceptual issues which arise with the advent of early modern science. In an attempt to explore some of these conflicts in terms of the question of perception, Descartes and Bacon are taken up as principal figures. By a comparative study of these two primary historical figures the dissertation seeks to show the manner by which early modern science comes to characterize itself as achieving a perceptual clarity unparalleled by any other time. At the same time, the dissertation strives to show how certain ancient and medieval traditions are appropriated by early modern science in its efforts to lay claim to a revolutionary form of perceptual clarity. ;The dissertation ultimately seeks to show that rich technical and perceptual legacies fuel the emergence of early modern science, and that this legacy is no less a heritage of all subsequent modern perception. Further, the dissertation depicts the new world which opens up with the emergence of the perceptual authority of early modern science, a world characterized by a radical new form of technical creation and perception. The dissertation also reveals some of the major facets of this heritage--its theological forms, its theoretical shapes, its world views--and the vastness and scope of these technico-perceptual legacies of early modern science