Philosophy as political engagement: revisiting Merleau-Ponty and reopening the communist question
Coole, Diana (2003) Philosophy as political engagement: revisiting Merleau-Ponty and reopening the communist question. Contemporary Political Theory 2 (3), pp. 327-350. ISSN 1470-8914.
Abstract
In this article, I revisit the work of the French political philosopher, Maurice Merleau-Ponty. A colleague of Sartre's until their quarrel, he sought to combine existentialism, Marxism and phenomenology. I begin by considering why Merleau-Ponty thought it was important, in confronting the problems of the present, to reconsider past ideas as well as political regimes. I also develop his distinctive methodology of dialectical engagement, his view of politics as a strategic field of forces, and his insistence that philosophy and political action are severed at our peril. In order to illustrate and flesh out all these claims, I return to Merleau-Ponty's treatment of the communist question, placing it within a broader context of his antipathy towards modern rationalism: something he found exemplified by liberal as well as communist regimes. In the course of the discussion, I consider Merleau-Ponty's critiques of Kant, Hegel and Marx as well as his ideas about political agency. However, I also allude at key points in my argument to the relevance of his thinking for our contemporary international situation.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Merleau-Ponty, Marxism, Communism, rationalism, phenomenology, politics |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Sarah Hall |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Oct 2017 16:00 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:35 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/19890 |
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