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Imagining Bodies with Merleau-Ponty Imagining Bodies with Merleau-Ponty

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Imagining Bodies with Merleau-Ponty Imagining Bodies with Merleau-Ponty IMAGINING BODIES WITH MERLEAU-PONTY IMAGINING BODIES WITH MERLEAU-PONTY By JAMES B. STEEVES A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University September 2000 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2000) McMASTER UNIVERSITY (Philosophy) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: IMAGINING BODIES WITH MERLEAU-PONTY AUTHOR: JAMES B. STEEVES I B.A. (University of New Brunswick) M.A. (University of New Brunswick) SUPERVISOR: Professor Jeff Mitscherling NUMBER OF PAGES: xi I 227. 11 ABSTRACT The imagination plays a central role in Merleau-Ponty's philosophy. In his earlier works, the imagination is shown to be the creative ability of the body to have a sense of space and motility in terms of which we are able to make sense of the world. In his later works, the view that the human body is a dynamic and creative process of realizing possibilities is extended to ontology; Being is shown to be a continual dissemination of meaning through the medium of 'flesh'. Thus Merleau-Ponty's philosophy, from start to finish, is a philosophy of the imagining body. This thesis begins with a discussion of imagination theory in order to show that there are four kinds of imagining: (i) perceptual imagining, (ii) aesthetic imagining, (iii) fanciful imagining, and (iv) elemental imagining. It is shown how Merleau-Ponty's philosophy of the imagination covers each kind, and how his analysis is superior to those of many other philosophers. Merleau-Ponty's theory of the body is then examined in the light of contemporary research, with an emphasis on the nature of the body schema. The body is shown to be a creative medium for engaging with the world, and to be the basis for the four kinds of imagining. Thus the imagination theory of Merleau- ill ponty is a theory of the imagining body. Finally, the role of the imagining body in ontology is explored. It is shown that Being is itself dynamic and creative, and expresses itself through the medium of 'flesh'. The imagining of Being, however, finds its ultimate expression in the imagining body as it imagines itself in perception, aesthetic production, fanciful thinking and the interpretation of elemental images. IV ACKNOWLEOOMENTS This work would not have been possible without the encouragement and support of many people. I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Jeffrey A. Mitscherling, for encouraging me throughout the course of my study at McMaster University and for the many helpful comments and suggestions that he provided during this time. I would also like to thank Dr. Gary B. Madison who was always willing to open his horne to philosophical and political discussion. Dr. Jay Lampert deserves thanks for his many comments and suggestions, and for always expecting only the best from his students. Research for this thesis was generously supported by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship. I wish to acknowledge the many discussions and friendships that have shaped my research. A few people who deserve special attention are Rodney Cooper, Darcy Otto, Peter Widdicombe and Daniel So. I am also grateful for the continual support of my parents, Peter and Linda Steeves, and David and Cheryl Loaring. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Elizabeth Loaring, who has not only exhibited encouragement and support, but who continues to show me how the philosophy of imagination applies to everyday life. v DEDICATION To Elizabeth, whose love and imagination know no bounds. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iii Acknowledgments v Table of Contents vii Abbreviations ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION A. Imaginative Embodiment 1 B. Overview 4 CHAPTER TWO: GENEALOGY OF IMAGINING A. Introduction 12 B. Modern Philosophy and Romanticism 15 c. Psychoanalysis 20 D. Phenomenology 23 E. Hermeneutics and Postmodernism 29 CHAPTER THREE: IMAGINING A. Introduction 39 B. Perceptual Imagining 41 C. Aesthetic Imagining 62 D. Fanciful Imagining 67 E. Elemental Imagining 80 vii CHAPTER FOUR: BODIES A. Introduction 99 B. Traditional Theories 102 C. Body Schema and Body Image III CHAPTER FIVE: IMAGINING BODIES A. Introduction 127 B. perceptual Embodiment 139 C. Aesthetic Embodiment 154 D. Fanciful Embodiment 162 E. Elemental Embodiment 166 CHAPTER SIX: IMAGINING BEING A. Introduction 178 B. Flesh and Reversibility 179 C. Imagining Flesh 199 D. Conclusion 212 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CITED 218 Vlll ABBREVIATIONS The following abbreviations are used to refer to Merleau-Ponty's texts. Wherever possible, I have used the same abbreviations for both the original French texts and the standard English translations. References to Merleau-Ponty's French texts always end with an 'F'. All italics and quotation marks found in quotes throughout the thesis are from the original source unless otherwise indicated. Works by Merleau-Ponty in English AD Adventures of the Dialectic. Tr. Joseph Bien. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1973. CAL Consciousness and the Acquisi tion of Language. Tr. Hugh Silverman. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1973. HT Humanism and Terror. Tr. John O'Neill. Boston: Beacon press, 1969. 1M .. On Sartre' s Imagina tion." In Texts and Dialogues: Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Ed. Hugh Silverman and James Barry. Tr. Michael B. Smith. Humanities Press: New Jersey, 1992. 1PP In Praise of Philosophy. Tr. John Wild and James M. Edie. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1963. PP Phenomenology of perception. Tr. Colin Smith. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1962. PrP The Primacy of Perception. Tr. James M. Edie. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1964. POW The Prose of the World. Ed. Claude Lefort. Tr. John O'Neill. Evanston: Northwestern University press, 1973. ix SNS Sense and Non-Sense. Tr. Hubert L. Dreyfus and Patricia Allen Dreyfus. Evanston: Northwestern university Press, 1964. S Signs. Tr. Richard McCleary. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1964. SB The Structure of Behavior. Tr. Alden L. Fisher. Boston: Beacon Press, 1963. TFL Themes From the Lectures at the College de France 1952- 1960. Tr. John O'Neill. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1970. VI The visible and the Invisible. Ed. Claude Lefort. Tr. Alphonso Lingis. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1968. Works by Merleau-Ponty in French ADF Les aventures de La dialectique. Paris: Gallimard, 1955. RCF Maurice MerLeau-Ponty a La Sorbonne: Resume de ses cours etabli par les etudiants et approuve par Lui-meme. Bulletin de Psychologie no. 236, vol. 18, no. 3-6 (November 1964); notes on courses delivered between 1949 - 51. HTF Humanisme et Terreure. Paris: Gallimard, 1947. IMF ilL I Imagination," Journal de Psychologie Normale et Pathologique 33 nos. 9-10 (1936), pp. 756-61. INF "Un inedit de Merleau - Ponty," Revue de Metaphysique et de Morale no. 4 (1962), pp. 401-9. IPPF Eloge de La philosophie et autres essais. Collection Idees. Paris: Gallimard, 1960 (first edition 1953) . EMF L'Oeil et l'esprit. Paris: Gallimard, 1964. PPF Phenomenologie de la perception. Paris: Gallimard, 1945. PrPF Le Primat de perception et ses consequences philosophiques. Grenoble: Cynara, 1989. x POWF La Prose du monde. Ed. Claude Lefort. Paris: Gallimard, 1969. ROF Les relations avec autrui chez l'enfant. Paris: Centre de Documentation Universitaire, 1967 (first edition 1951) . TFLF Resumes de cours, College de France 1952-1960. Paris: Gallimard, 1968. SNSF Sens et non-senSe Paris: Nagel, 1966 (first edition 1948) . SF signes. Paris: Gallimard, 1960. SBF La structure du comportement. 2nd. ed. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France (first edition 1942) . VIF Le visible et l'invisible: suivi de notes de travail. Ed. Claude Lefort. Paris: Gallimard, 1964. Xl CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION A. Imaginatiye Embodiment Every year on one of the hottest weekends of the surnmerl the small and quiet town of Dundas, Ontario, is transformed into a festival of sound and light. The usually quiet main street of shops and cafes becomes a stage for buskers who sing and dance, juggle balls, swallow knives, and perform various tricks with playing cards, bicycles, chains and torches. During these festivals, off in a quieter corner of the street, one can find a mime silently displaying her art. She is dressed in a simple black shirt and black leotards, her face is painted white with exaggerated make-up on her lips and around her eyes, and her hair is tied back into a pony-tail. As if enthralled by her own embodiment, she moves in sweeping gestures, creating the illusion of a wall or a tiger, magically changing her immediate surroundings into a palace with kings and queens, romantic encounters and executions, or into a jungle fraught with vicious animals and dense foliage. With Simple gestures/ as if by a secret inner­ comrrnmication, the mime entrances the onlookers and brings them all into her world, leaving the sounds of the street behind. How is it that the mime, so simple in dress and appearance, can communicate so clearly and 'audibly' to her 2 audience? The observer can tell instantly what the mime is experiencing- -he feels her fear and senses the approaching tiger, he shares her lust for power or her disdain for the criminal. There seems to be, in each of us, a unique language of the body on which the mime skillfully plays like the keys of a piano. By stretching her body as she pulls down on the imagined rope, she makes us feel as if we are climbing the rope towards the sky. By moving her hands to the left while her abdomen moves to the right, she causes us to f eel her imaginary movement along a wall. The mime is aware of a number of gestures that bear an immediate sense for us, and by using these gestures she is able to tell a story without making a sound. 1 The mime is perhaps the most skilled at the art of creative gesture and embodiment.
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