Author(s): Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Kids Learning

Together with Sartre, Merleau-Ponty was the foremost French philosopher of the post-war period and "Phenomenology of Perception", first published in 1945, is his masterpiece. What makes this work so important is that it returned the body to the forefront of philosophy for the first time since Plato. For Merleau-Ponty perception was always embodied - changes in our bodies lead to changes in our perceptions - and played a key role in speech, sexuality and relations with others. His influence has increased with time, as cognitive scientists struggle to build "intelligent machines" - is it possible?