Abstract

The dissertation evaluates the impact of the Naturphilosophie of F. W. J. Schelling on the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It is clear, from the courses on the "Concept of Nature," given at the College de France in the mid-1950s, that Schelling exerts a considerable influence on the development of Merleau-Ponty's later project, and thus plays a crucial role in the transition from the phenomenological period of the Phenomenology of Perception to the ontological period of The Visible and the Invisible. The dissertation demonstrates that from the beginning of his career, Merleau-Ponty establishes, and never abandons, a domain of interrogation at "the indiscernible joining" of existence and idea. Early in his career, Merleau-Ponty uses the insights of Gestaltism to interrogate this problem. This effort is significantly deepened when Merleau-Ponty encounters Husserlian phenomenology in the 1940s. One of the principle acquisitions of his phenomenological turn is to think the human body as "an animal of movements and perceptions," which in turn leads Merleau-Ponty to a consideration of the theoretical findings of the life-sciences. This consideration is made publically, in the lectures courses at the College, and it is most notably here that the influence of Schelling begins to impose itself. The dissertation examines and evaluates Merleau-Ponty's reading of the life sciences, and offers a critical appraisal of Schelling's work, exploring how it contributes to the refinement and deepening of Merleau-Ponty's emerging ontological position. The conclusion examines Merleau-Ponty's unfinished project, relying on unpublished manuscripts, working notes, and course notes consulted at the Merleau-Ponty Archive, in light of the arguments made in the previous chapters. The title of the dissertation names the thematic in which the entire investigation is conducted. The conclusion argues that Merleau-Ponty's late work must be read as an "ontology of institution," and, in anticipation of future work, argues that his diverse philosophical interests must be understood starting from this theme