Merleau-Ponty and the return to the unreflected experience of the world

• Grant number: 12/06984-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Fundamentals and Assessments in Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Danilo Saretta Verissimo
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique Santos Decanini Marangoni
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In this theoretical research, we intend to study the conception of pre-reflective fields delineated by the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty in the book Phenomenology of Perception. According to the philosopher, the suspension of the intellectualist and empiricist prejudice concerning the perception makes possible the re-meeting of the unreflected, or pre-reflective, experience dimension. From this, it is possible to redefine the status of the body and therefore the status of the perceived world in order to counteract the objectification of our experience operated by science and reflective philosophy. This study should allow the examination of epistemological roots of psychology. It is a trait of the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, especially the discussions developed in the Phenomenology of perception, the use of human sciences, especially psychology. This dialogue often has critical value to the foundations of psychological sciences whose value remains unexplored by psychologists. (AU)