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Merleau-Ponty, Santayana and the Paradoxes of Animal Faith.

The article compares the ontology of two 20th-century philosophers, the Spanish-American George Santayana and the Frenchman Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Despite the apparent incompatibility of the former's pragmatism and the latter's phenomenology, both men are found to have struggled with similar issues...

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Published in:British Journal for the History of Philosophy Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 487 - 507
Main Author: Cronan, Todd
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Jun2010
Subjects:
Santayana, George, 1863-1952
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice, 1908-1961
Solipsism
Intersubjectivity
Pragmatism
Phenomenology
Ontology
Modern philosophy
Twentieth century
History
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:The article compares the ontology of two 20th-century philosophers, the Spanish-American George Santayana and the Frenchman Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Despite the apparent incompatibility of the former's pragmatism and the latter's phenomenology, both men are found to have struggled with similar issues of how to reconcile solipsism (the primacy of individual perception) with intersubjectivity (the encounter with other minds). Both men's views on being, consciousness, ethics, faith, and skepticism are compared.